Reunited
by shadowthorn12039
Summary: Tris was shot at the Bureau of Genetic Welfare, but instead of dying, she went into a coma. And everyone still thinks that she died. Two years later, a very distraught Tobias finally decides to explore the Dauntless Compound, where hundreds of memory's haunt it's hallways. While he's there, he finds a note from a certain someone... and that note changes his life.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

 **Tobias POV.**

I keep seeing her everywhere, though I know she's not anywhere.

Every morning I wake up wishing that it's all a bad dream, that she's still alive, but I know it's not true. Christina tells me that I'll pull through, figure out a way to live without her, but that's not true either. Tris Prior was the best thing that had ever happened to me, and, even though it was two years ago, still haunts me in my nightmares.

She didn't deserve to die.

It should have been Caleb, he was the one that was supposed to die after all, but she decided that the man that she had been despising ever since he betrayed her and sided with the Erudite, didn't deserve it.

But she did?

I go through my morning routine through muscle memory alone, my mind elsewhere, thinking about her, longing for her, longing to join her, but that can't happen. She would want me to live, despite how much it makes me suffer. I have been thinking about her to much recently, but it's impossible not to. Not when I've been seeing her so often, in my dreams that sneak into my real life when I am not paying attention. The only reason I ever leave the house is to go to my fear landscape. And even then, it's so that I can see her, even if it's just her dying over and over again. Today I am going to do something different, I am going to the Dauntless Compound.

The buildings flood my surroundings as I walk. I go the same path I take to the Dauntless Compound, but this time, instead of going straight to the fear landscape room, I wonder the halls. Without thinking, I go to the training room. I run my fingers along the stone walls as I make my way to there. I am surprised to see that all the equipment is still there. I remember how Tris was the first person to hit the target throwing knives, I remember how I put my hand on her stomach. I lower my face into my hands. I should leave, but I don't want to, I can't, I have to do this.

I find my way through a small crowd of people as I walk to the Chasm and find the door that leads to the bottom. I walked with her this way, holding her hand. I lean against the wall for a second and a small sob escapes me.

Why am I doing this to myself?

I compose myself and keep walking. As I reach the bottom of the stairs I almost break. I run the tips if my fingers along the hand that she held when I first brought her down here. My entire body aches. There are tears on my cheeks, but I don't wipe them away. One of the last times I saw her cry was during an argument that I wish we had never had.

It was all my fault.

I sit down on the rock where we had our first kiss and stare up to the Pit. If she was alive, she might have been sitting with me right now, we would have moved on from all the horrors that happened to us and lived a new life, but she's dead, and she's not coming back.

She's not coming back.

I see a piece of paper falling from above me, from the Pit. At first, I think that it's just one of the discarded scraps that people throw into the Chasm, but then I see that it is attached to a string. I look up. Someone, I can't tell who, they are too high up, stands at the railing, holding their hand out. When the piece of paper reaches me, I take it and the string drops and the person at the railing runs away. I unfold the paper and stare at the writing.

 _At the place that relates most to your first fear in the landscape. At the time you first told her what was going on. Tonight. Alone._

The handwriting seems vaguely familiar. Whoever it was, knows what my fear landscape contains, and there's only one person that I have ever shown it to. On the other side of the page, I notice a patch of Dauntless flames in the same formation that is tattooed on my rib-cage, and… three ravens. How do I know that they are ravens? Because I've seen the exact same ones.

On Beatrice Prior's collarbone./p

I look back up at the Pit, at the spot that the person was standing. "Tris…" I whisper.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 **Tobias POV.**

I know what it means, the note. They want me to meet them "At the place that relates most to your first fear in the Landscape," heights, the place that relates most to that would be the top of the Hub.

"At the time you first told her what was going on," the time I told Tris to meet me so that I could tell her that the Erudite were up to, 11:30 at night. I can't let myself get high hopes. For all I know, it's not even going to be Tris. Why would it be? _How_ would it be? Tris is dead. It _has_ to be someone else.

I pace my apartment. If it really is her— _if_ —why hasn't she told me yet? Why did she wait this long? No. I can't get my hopes up. I pace so fast that I start to get out of breath, but I don't care. I bite my nails and try to stay calm, but there is no calm. It hasn't been very long at all since I got up this morning, I woke up at 7:00 and it's only 9:00. I need to wait 14 _hours_. I need to occupy myself with something, with what? The only thing I ever think about is her, and, now that there's a chance that she might still be alive, it—it just makes me think about her even more.

I shake my head and sigh. It's not very likely that she's the one that gave me the note, but, then again, she would be the only person to know these things.

I hear a knock, and don't answer it. My mind is to occupied. Another knock, more insistent, louder.

"Open up!" It's Zeke's voice. I still don't want to open it, so I don't. "I know you're in there!"

"Go away, Zeke!" I yell, louder than I intend. He stays silent. I rarely yell at people, especially my friends, so I understand if he might be confused. "Are you okay, man?" He says finally.

I sit down hard on the couch, still not opening the door. I don't want him to see me like this, a complete mess. "Why are you here anyway?" I say.

"Yeah, it'll be a lot easier to have a conversation, if you would open the damn door! What is going on?"

Leave it to Zeke to figure out that something's wrong. I stare at the crumpled paper on my coffee table. I should throw it away, but instead I find myself unwrapping it and reading it over again, just to make sure that it's real and not just another one of my stupid dreams. But there it is, the same writing, the same drawings on the back. I put my fingers on the ravens, remembering how soft her skin was. I crumple it again and place it down, taking a deep breath. I get up and open the door for Zeke.

" _Finally_ ," he says. "Why did—" he stops. "What's wrong?" he says, suddenly serious. I sit back on the couch. "Things have just been… harder for me today. Okay?"

He sits next to me. "Is it Tris again?" I nod, staring at my shoes.

He frowns at the piece of paper. "What's this?" He grabs it. I tense up. I _never_ leave trash anywhere. I snatch it from his hands.

"It's just a piece of trash." I put it in my pocket. "It's nothing." I clench my teeth. I'm probably acting insane, but who can blame me? "Is there a reason you're here?" I ask. "I was just coming over to come over, but this has turned into not what I expected," he says. "I'm sorry," I say. "It's just that my girlfriend _died,_ and I can't get over it." I lower my face into my hands, my elbows balanced on my knees. "Can you just go, please? I need to be alone right now." He gives me a look, like, pity, then he pats me on the leg and leaves.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

 **Tris POV.**

The wind blows my hair into my face as I stand outside the glass building above the Dauntless Compound. I can't believe I just did that. After all this time of not telling him, not interacting with him, I decide to tell him _now?_ He must be confused, and skeptical, and he probably doesn't even believe that it's me. It would have just been better off if I didn't tell him at all.

But then I see him, running, his face full of energy, out the front door of the glass building. I pull up my hood just as he looks in my direction. He doesn't notice. He runs past me, so close I could touch him, but then he's gone. I sigh. What would have happened if he saw me before I was even ready? I know exactly where he is going. His apartment, to pace his living room, to try to figure out what just happened. He does that every time he is troubled about something.

I don't even know why I am alive. Everything that happened with David in the weapons room still happened, but when he shot me, I didn't die.

I still have the scars.

I was in a coma, everyone thought I was dead. For some reason, _they_ decided to make it look like I actually did, replaced my body with a fake one. That was the one they burned. That was the one who's ashes he scattered from the zipline.

He went through one of his greatest fears, heights, because he wanted to honor my death, because he felt like it would respect me, that it would help him to move on, but I've seen him. He hasn't moved on. In fact, he has gotten much, _much_ worse.

That is one of the reasons I am telling him.

When I woke from the coma, I was fully healed, and in an apartment that I did not recognize. There was a computer, and someone that messaged me from it, telling me everything that I had missed, how everyone thought that I was dead. I never saw their face, and the only thing they did was bring me up to date.

I was in that coma for eight months.

The people—or _person_ —that kept me alive paid for my apartment that I now own, that is coincidentally in the building next to where Tobias lives. I can see through his window when I look out mine.

It just makes it all worse.

The way that he breaks down randomly, the way that he wakes every morning hours before his alarm, the way that he doesn't sleep for _hours_ every night, and the fact that I can't resist the urge to look through his window to see him every day, and that he can never see me back.

I told him in the note that he has to meet me alone, at 11:30, the time that he told me that the Erudite were planning a war, at the top of the Hub, that is the tallest building in the sector, which makes it the closest thing to his first fear in his fear landscape, heights. I hope he figured out what the note means.

I should not be doing this, they told me not to tell _anyone_ , not even Tobias. But I am going to anyway. The time apart from him has become unbearable. I need to see him, not through a window, not by following him in the streets, but in person. I need to talk to him. I need to tell him. He needs to know. I don't care about the consequences.

I make my way to my own apartment and look through the window into his living room. He is pacing, and I can hear the sound of someone yelling from the other side of the door from here. It must be Zeke, I can tell by the voice. My note lays crumpled on the coffee table.

I've never seen him with so much hope in his eyes, but I've also never seen him so nervous. He sits down on the couch and uncrumples the paper and reads it again, turning it over and putting his fingertips to the three ravens that I drew on the back. His eyes are so filled with hope, that I can tell he is trying to suppress. I have learned from watching him for this long, what it means when he does certain things. When he taps his toes to the floor, he is impatient, and when he taps his heels on the floor, he is nervous. When he bites his nails, he is anticipating something. When his hands shake, that's when things are serious, like when he's having trouble with his friends, or his mother, Evelyn, does something that he doesn't approve of.

I stare at him as he crumples the paper again and delicately places it on the coffee table.

I press my hand to the glass and whisper, "I'll see you soon."


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys! So I was thinking about what to name this, but I can't really come up with anything... So! I decided to have you guys choose! PM or give a review on what you think I should name it!**

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

 **Tobias POV.**

The passage of time seems slower than usual.

After I reread the note a million times again, I finally allow myself to believe that it's true. Not the idea that Tris might, _might_ , be alive, but it's true that someone wants to meet me, and judging by the time and place that it's at, it must be important.

My whole body shakes as I ride the elevator up. It started with my hands, then it spread to my arms and legs and eventually my entire body.

The whole ride up, I can't help but let myself hope, even a little, that it might be her. The door opens, and the wind hits me hard, and for the first time, it doesn't bother me as much. The ladder that leads to the very top of the roof is already placed and secured, insuring that the next person the climb up wont fall. I take a deep breath. It's not every day that I make my way to the top of a building.

I climb.

I look around for a moment. It is too dark to see anything clearly, so I have to focus on each individual object in my surroundings.

Then my eyes fall on a figure standing at the ledge of the roof. They are short, slim, and muscular. I can tell from their body shape that it is female.

She turns, and I notice a gun holster at her side. I also notice that her hand is on it. But the moment that she see's me, she takes her hand away from it.

"Tobias," she says. Her voice is low and seems unnatural for her body shape.

"Y—you…" I say. She steps away from the ledge, and down one step. When we are on level ground, the top of her head reaches to the same level as my chin.

Her voice is low.

She is small.

Slim.

Muscular.

 _Tris_.

The lights at the top of the Hub leave a faint pulsing glow in the darkness, making her golden hair look red.

She walks up to me, and I notice that there is something shiny on her cheeks.

"A—am I dreaming?" I say. I have had many dreams like this before, where she comes back, and just when I start to believe that it is real, I wake up, and she is gone. This, like many others, seems to fake to be true. But then, _unlike_ many others, it also seems to true to be fake.

She reaches her hand to touch my face, but I back away.

"You didn't answer my question," I say.

Her face seems pained.

"You aren't dreaming, Tobias," she says. She reaches her hand out again, but hesitantly, and not to my face, but my hand.

I let her take it.

"If it was a dream, would you be able to feel this? Would you be able to listen to my voice like you are now?"

I feel something warm drip down my face and shake my head.

"See then? This is not a dream, I am completely real."

I realize that the warm thing on my face is a tear.

"You are?" I say, my voice cracking. "You're really… Tris?"

"I am." Her hand moves from my own hand to my cheek, and this time I don't back away. Instead, I force myself to look at her— _actually_ look at her. Her light blue eyes look exactly the same as I last saw her, fierce, and beautiful.

Her hand moves delicately to the back of my neck, and she pulls my lips to hers. After all this time, the pressure of her lips is like the weight of the world has been lifted from my shoulders. I let a breath out, and it feels like I am exhaling all of my worry's, my pain.

When she pulls away, she keeps her forehead against mine. Our breaths mix in the air between us. We are both breathing fast from nervous energy, and that's how I know that this is real. If she was a dream, she wouldn't be nervous.

"How?" I say, almost unable to speak. "How are you alive?"

She shakes her head. "I don't even know, but I know that someone, I don't know who, kept me alive. When I was… shot at the Bureau, I was put into a coma, for eight months. When I finally woke up, I was in the apartment that I now live in." Her eyes dart away from me. "The apartment in the building next to yours, right across from it."

Those words strike me hard. She was this close, all this time? And I never noticed?

"You've been there this whole time?" I say. "Why didn't you tell me sooner? What is going _on?_ "

She shakes her head. "Tobias, I wanted nothing more than to tell you, but they didn't want me to."

"Who?"

"I don't know, but they are the people that kept me alive while I was in that coma." She takes my hand. "It's probably not safe to talk about this here. We need to go somewhere else."


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys! So I was thinking about what to name this, but I can't really come up with anything... So! I decided to have you guys choose! PM or give a review on what you think I should name it!**

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

 **Tris POV.**

I hold his hand tightly as I guide him to my apartment.

He seems shaken up, but I wouldn't blame him. If he had died, gone into a coma for eight months, then suddenly, two years later, come up and tell me that he was alive, I would have been pretty shaken up as well.

We enter my apartment, that I forgot to clean before I left. I didn't really think it through about whether or not he would come with me.

I notice that I left my windows opened, so that he can see that I have been watching him.

Luckily, he pays no attention to the windows. Instead, he goes over to my couch, that is covered in drafts of the letter that I gave to him, telling him to meet me. Some have misspellings on them, others just didn't seem right, and some other ones have a different location written on them entirely.

He walks over to them and reads some of them. His face is pale, and I notice that as he sits on the couch he is tapping his heel on the ground, nervous.

I move over to him and brush some of the pages off the couch, then sit down next to him.

"I understand that this is a lot," I say.

"You _think?_ " he says. He balances his elbows on his knees and puts his head in his hands, his head facing away from me.

"But I just want you to know, that this is just as stressful to me as it is to you, you know. After all that time away from you, it just seems like… I don't know, I—"

He leans over and presses his lips to mine before I can finish my sentence. I haven't felt his lips on mine for so long, but I remember it well.

He puts his hand on my cheek, his fingers stretching out behind my ear.

When he pulls away, he keeps his forehead pressed against mine, his nose slips perfectly next to mine.

I keep my eyes closed for a second after, savoring it—savoring how close he is, how he is not so far that he is out of my reach, so far that he didn't even know that I was there this whole time.

"I missed you," he says, his eyes glassy with tears.

"I missed you to," I say, putting my hand on top of his, on top of my cheek. "And I wish that I could have told you sooner, I really do."

He nods. "I know." He bends and buries his face into my shoulder. Nothing intimate, he just needs comfort, and I am going to give it to him.

He makes a weird noise, and I realize that he is crying.

"It's okay," I say, awkwardly patting him on the back.

I sit there as he sobs. The tears soak into my shirt, but I don't care.

"I—I thought I lost you," he says.

"You didn't lose me," I say. I kiss him on the cheek and I stand, pulling him with me. I glance at my watch. It's 1:00 AM. Of course, both of us have stayed up much later than that, but he seems exhausted. "Do you want to stay the night?"

I ask it mostly for his sake, but also for mine. I don't think that I would be able to sleep alone, especially after telling him that I am alive.

I bet that he won't be able to sleep alone either, after learning that I am alive.

He nods slowly.

I guide him to my bedroom, that is just as much of a mess as the living room is.

I move stuff from the bed—dirty clothes, more drafts of the note I gave him—and gesture for him to lay down first. He does, and I lay down next to him.

He puts an arm around my waist, and I sigh.

"Tris?" he says.

"Yeah?"

"I'm afraid to go to sleep."

"Why?"

"What if I wake up and it turns out it _was_ just a dream?"

"Well, that's a stupid thing to be afraid of," I say. "I'm not a dream. I think that I would know if I was a dream, Tobias."

He laughs, and it sounds genuine.

"Sleep," I say. "I'll fight the bad dreams off if they come to get you."

I see him smile in the dark.

"With what?"

"My bare hands, obviously."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

 **Tobias POV**.

That morning, I wake up to see Tris sitting at the edge of the bed, reading a book. Her golden hair almost glows in the sunlight peaking in through the blinds.

Beautiful.

I stretch and yawn, and she turns to look at me.

"Morning," she says smiling. "How'd you sleep?"

"Better than usual," I say. I get up and stand in front of her. "What are you reading?"

She looks away. "You'll think I'm a nerd," she says.

"Hey, at least you're _my_ nerd."

She laughs a little. "It's actually that book that Caleb recommended to me that one time in the Amity compound. You remember that?"

A shiver goes down my spine when she mentions Caleb. "Yeah, I remember that. You actually started reading it?"

"Hey, when you spend two years doing mostly nothing except making sure that people you know don't see you, you get pretty desperate."

She puts a bookmark at the page that she is on and stands. "I would have made you breakfast before you woke up, but I think that you would have had a panic attack if I wasn't there when you did."

I put my hand on her waist. "That's true." I give her a small kiss on the lips. Though I just figured out that she was still alive, it feels like I have already spent a long time with her in the time that it took to accept that she is real.

"I also have never tasted your cooking, so there's a first time for everything."

She grins and leads me out of her bedroom.

I didn't get the chance to take a look around her apartment last night, so I decide to look around while she's cooking.

Her living room has a single couch, covered in pages. Through the window, I can see straight into _my_ apartment. _Has she been watching me?_ I wonder. The thought doesn't unsettle me. If I was "dead" and couldn't tell her that I was alive, and was this close to her, I would have done the same.

There is a bookshelf in the corner, and that's how I know that she was _really_ bored in the time that it took for her to finally decide to tell me, because the only things on that bookshelf is books.

The kitchen has a window-like feature, with no glass, but you can see into the living room from the kitchen and the same from the living room.

The smell of bacon fills the air.

There is only one bedroom, that connects to a bathroom with a shower and bathtub.

Her bedroom is small, a mess, and only big enough to fit one queen sized bed and a desk that I guess she reads at.

I go back to the kitchen when I'm done looking around.

She finishes making breakfast, and looking at it, I realize how hungry I am.

"Eat as much as you want," she says, holding out a plate for me. "I could always just make more."

"Thanks," I say, taking the plate from her.

The next thing I know, the plate is empty.

She chuckles. "Wow, you sure ate fast."

"What? I was hungry."

She shakes her head, a smile on her face.

I stand up and press my lips to hers.

"What was that for?" she says.

I shrug. "Just because I wanted to."

I kiss her again. She puts her arms around me, her hand sliding up my neck and into my hair.

I put both my hands on her hips.

I pull away slowly, savoring the air that we share between us afterward.

"I love you," I say.

"I love you, too," she says, not an ounce of doubt in her expression or voice. She kisses me briefly, and when she pulls away, she says, "What do you think Christina's reaction would be if I told her?"

"She would probably be mad, because she cried for you when you…" I have a little trouble saying the word. "Died. But I think that she would also be happy, over time. Why? Are you going to tell her?"

She bites her lip. "Maybe. What do you think? Should I wait longer?"

I shrug. "I don't know. I guess that it's your choice."

Then I remember, after Zeke left the other day, he told me that he would be coming back the day after to see if I was alright.

I smack my palm on my forehead and mutter, " _Idiot!"_

Tris frowns. "What is it?"

"Zeke said that he would be coming over today, and he always comes over early when he does."

She goes over to the window, as if she has done it many times before, and looks out.

"You're right," she mutters.

I walk up next to her. "How can you tell?" There is no indication that Zeke would be there. Then I notice that she is not looking into my apartment, but the parking lot, where Zeke's car is parked.

"Dammit," I say. I turn to Tris.

"He's probably waiting outside my door. I usually wake up early to go to the fear landscape, so this isn't anything new."

She nods. "I know," she says, and I wonder if she has been doing more than just watching through my window.

"You should go," she says. "I'll watch from here. I'm good at lip reading." I wonder if the reason is because of two years of watching me.

"Okay, Tris," I say. I go to the door, but turn around last second, my hand hovering over the handle. "But there's one last thing I need to ask."

"What is it?"

"How did you make it so that I never noticed you before?"

She smiles mischievously. "I've infiltrated the scariest places, with the most guards— _Dauntless_ guards, mind you—without having been discovered _once_. You think I can't do the same with people?" She grins. "And maybe, just _maybe_ , I picked up a few things from those experiences." Her smile wavers. "Come back later, any time. There's something else you need to know. But for now, go to Zeke. Try not to act to cheerful. From what I've learned with Zeke, he's pretty good with figuring out when things are wrong or right."

She nods at me, and I leave.

* * *

 **Thanks guys for the support!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Tobias POV**.

I get back to my apartment, to see Zeke sitting in the hallway, his arms draped over his knees.

When he sees me, he stands up abruptly.

"What the hell, man?" he says. "I even _told_ you yesterday that I would be showing up, but you decided to run off to your fear landscape again?"

I remember that I am supposed to be acting down, like I always acted when I thought that Tris was dead.

I let myself slouch, make it look like I am unprepared for anything. I unlock the door to my apartment and let Zeke go in first.

I glance out to window to Tris's apartment, and she is there, watching. She nods a little, saying to keep the act up.

Zeke plops himself down on the couch and pats the spot next to him, telling me to sit. The stern look he gives me says that I will sit down and be comforted whether I want to or not.

I _really_ don't want to. But that would classify me as acting different than usual if I where to refuse. Normally, I would sit down without hesitation, listen to his pep-talk while also not listening, then he would leave without another problem.

That's not the case here. Most of the time the reason he gives me a pep-talk is to tell me that I need to move on from Tris, how I _have_ to move on from Tris if I am ever going to do anything productive with my life. Since Tris is alive, there is no reason for me to be feeling down, and I don't thing I can act like it either, especially with Tris watching from her apartment.

I sit down next to Zeke, and I see Tris walk away from the window out of the corner of my eye, as if reading my mind. Now that she is gone, and out of sight, it seems easier to relax, and act like I acted when she was gone.

"Dude, I know that it's hard, but Tris is gone," Zeke says. Just him saying that one thing makes me want to punch him. "I know that you loved her, and that she made a big impact on your life, but she would want you to _move on_."

It is difficult, but I imagine what it felt like at the time to see her "body," to scatter her ashes. Tears jump into my eyes as I remember clutching her cold, dead hand.

Zeke notices that I am about to cry and pulls me into an embrace.

It is uncomfortable, physical contact is not something that happens often with me, but I let myself relax into his arms, let him think that he is comforting me.

When he leaves, it is a relief. But that relief doesn't last long when I hear him come back, franticly knocking on the door.

"Four!" he says.

I go open the door. "Zeke, what the—" he interrupts me by grabbing my arm and pulling me out of my apartment, without my shoes on.

"What are you doing?" I say.

"Tris is _alive_."

A shiver goes down my spine. "Zeke, how do you know that?"

He takes me to his car and pulls a tablet out of the backseat. He turns it on, taps on a few things, and hands the tablet to me.

It shows footage of outside my apartment building. I don't recall security cameras being installed. _When did that happen?_

A small object moves at the edge of the screen. "There! Did you see her?" He rewinds it back and pauses just when it is in sight.

The "object" is Tris.

I look up at her window and see her standing there. For a second, we hold eye contact, she nods a little, to indicate that she is coming down, then she disappears behind the glass.

* * *

 **Tris POV.**

"Alone again," I say to myself when Tobias leaves. Guess it's back to watching him having inaudible conversation with Zeke.

I stand away from the window, so that he doesn't see me, but I see him, and watch. I see Zeke say something, and Tobias start to cry.

I look away. I can't stand watching Tobias cry. Especially if the topic is me. The next time I look out the window, they are gone. I go closer, to check if they are anywhere that I can see them.

They are in the parking lot, at Zeke's car. Zeke pulls a tablet out of the backseat of the car and shows Tobias something.

Tobias watches it, then he looks up at me, making direct eye-contact, and I know that something's wrong.

 _Zeke knows, doesn't he?_ I silently ask Tobias.

His expression is the only thing I need to know that it is a yes.

I nod, telling him that I am coming down and to keep him there while I do, then I go out the door.

I run down the stairs, not getting breathless at the physical activity. I got used to running a _long_ time ago. And not for good reason.

When I make it to the bottom of the building, I go out the doors and into the parking lot. Zeke is there, talking excitedly to Tobias. I can't hear what he is saying from here, but the reason that I am here is to tell him to _shut up_ about it, to not tell anyone else.

While also showing him that he is right.

I finally make it to them and stand silently behind Zeke. Tobias sees me, and he grabs Zeke's shoulders, says, "Are you sure?" Zeke nods, and Tobias wheels him around so that he can see me.

"What the—" His eyes widen. "Tris! What—?"

"Shut up," I cut him off. I gesture for Tobias to bring him along.

Tobias keeps his hand clamped around Zeke's arm, but Zeke is to shocked to resist. The whole way up to my apartment he has the same surprised look on his face.

I close the door behind us.

"Tobias, can I have sometime alone with Zeke?"

"Um…" he hesitates, looking between us both for a second, but leaves anyway.

"Zeke, you can't tell _anyone_ about this, you understand?" I say.

"No, I don't!" he exclaims. "You are _alive?_ How?"

"You're the person that just showed Tobias _proof_ that I was!" I say. "You're lucky that he already knew, because that would have ruined him!"

I turn away from him. I am getting too angry at him, too fast. I need to _calm down_. But I can't. After all this time of watching my friends live on without me, of _course_ I knew that he was suspicious of me being alive, but I didn't think that it would be to the point of installing security cameras outside of Tobias's apartment.

"Tris, I have been looking for a sign that you were alive for _so_ long," Zeke says.

"Yeah, I noticed. But you didn't have to show Tobias the proof you got _right_ after you got it. You are extremely lucky that he learned about it the _day before_ you showed it to him. It would have ruined him If he had learnt about it from anyone else but me."

He shakes his head in disbelief. "It wouldn't have _ruined_ him, it would have giving him hope that you were alive. And maybe it would have also motivated you to tell you friends that you didn't, oh, I don't know, _die?"_

I resist the extremely persuasive urge to punch him in the face.

I take a deep breath. "Okay, sorry. I'll explain everything."


	8. Chapter 8

**Tris POV.**

"Okay, wow," Zeke says after I finish explaining to him what happened. "You've had it rough, jeez."

I roll my eyes at him. "Yeah, I noticed."

"What's your deal? It's starting to feel like you hate me or something."

"I don't," I say. "Tobias! You can come in now."

Tobias walks in, after waiting in the other room for a while. "I heard yelling."

"It's fine now," I Zeke says.

Tobias looks at me skeptically.

"Like he said," I say, "it's fine."

We all stand in the middle of my messy living room. Zeke picks up one of the notes that I was going to give to Tobias, but I take it out of his hand before he can read it.

"Don't read that," I say. It's one of the ones that told him directly where and when to meet him, it says, _On the roof of the Hub, at 11:30 tonight._ Way to direct, so I decided to make it so that there was at least a little challenge there.

"Why? What is it?" Zeke asks.

"It's nothing." I crumple it into a ball and throw it across the room into the trash can.

Zeke takes a phone out of his pocket and looks at it. "Um. I need to go. Christina had something to talk to me about and I think that it's important."

He starts walking to the door, but I place my hand on it right before he opens it. "You can only leave, if you promise not to tell anybody. Hear me? _Anybody_."

He stares at me for a second, then nods. "I promise."

"Not even Christina?"

"Not even Christina."

I take my hand away from the door and he leaves.

Tobias is staring at me.

"What?" I say.

"Nothing, it's just that you handled that so well."

"What, did you expect me not to handle it well?"

He puts his hand on my cheek. "That's not what I meant, and you know it. I'm just impressed that you handled it well."

I smirk. "Nice of you."

He leans closer, touching his forehead to mine, close enough that our breaths mix.

"It's weird that you trust him after finding out that he knew," he says.

I shrug. "I sort of have to. Besides, Zeke is trustable. Is he not?"

"He is, it's just, you're the kind of person that doesn't trust people easily, so I was impressed that you did."

"Well, good thing I already trusted him." I touch his face. "I trust you, too, you know that?"

He nods. "Yeah. And I trust you." He tilts his head a bit and kisses me.

I smile a little as I kiss him back. He puts his hand on my back between my shoulder blades, pulling me against him. I put both my arms around him and his hand slides painstakingly down my back and goes under the hem of my shirt.

I feel my face turn red. It has been a long time since I have been so close to Tobias, and it makes me a little nervous. But he seems nervous too, since his face is so warm under the palm of my hand.

His fingers are soft as they trace up my spine and to my neck underneath my shirt.

We have been apart so long, that I had started to fear that I would never get back to him. But now I know that I should have never thought that way.

I am his, and he is mine, and it always has been, and always will be that way.

That night we sleep in my bed, and he falls asleep with his hand under my shirt on my stomach.

And I fall asleep with my hand on his.


	9. Chapter 9

**Tobias POV.**

That morning, I wake up seeing Tris's golden hair in front of my face.

Light falls into the room through the blinds making the entire room brighter.

I kiss her neck, right on the scar, to wake her up.

She shifts a little and mumbles, "Five more minutes."

I chuckle and pull her closer so that her body is right up against me.

"Still tired," she sighs, but she turns toward me anyway.

I look at the alarm clock on her desk. "You do realize that it's ten, right?"

"What can I say? Some mornings I wake up early, other mornings I just want to sleep," she grumbles. "This is one of those other mornings."

She closes her eyes again and snuggles right up against my chest, putting an arm around my waist.

We lay there for a while longer, enjoying each other's company. Or maybe it's just me enjoying her company and her going back to sleep. Either way, I like it.

When it reaches 11:00 AM, I decide to try to wake her up again. "Tris," I say softly.

"Yeah?" she says, as if she has been awake this whole time.

"Have you been awake?"

"Maybe."

"I'll take that as a yes." I sit up, pulling away from her, but she grabs me again, tugging me back down.

"Tris," I say laughing.

She laughs too as I struggle against her. I would be able to get out of that bed easily, if I really wanted to, but the thing is, I don't really want to.

We wrestle for a bit, until she manages to get on top of me and pin my arms down with her hands clamped around my wrists, her legs wrapping around my waist.

"Got you," she says grinning.

"Well, guess what?" I say.

"What?"

" _I_ managed to get you awake."

I spin us around so that I am perched above her, my hands on her wrists instead.

She laughs. "Guess you did." She bends her head up and kisses me. But that was just a distraction to get on me again. She swings one of her legs around my waist and twists, compromising my balance so that I fall over. Her hands grab my wrists and she gets on top of me again, her face only inches away from mine. She frames my head with her arms, holding my hands level with my head.

Looks like her Dauntless training hasn't gone away from her completely.

Her hair falls to one side of her face as she looks down at me. She smirks. "Got you again."

I laugh, surprised at how easy she just did that. "Okay, okay. You got me."

She moves her hands from my wrists to my face and kisses me.

For the rest of the day we are cheerful, and light, as if all out worries disappeared overnight.

Near the end of the day, we sit in her living room, each of us reading our own separate thing. Tris lays on the couch, her legs draped across my lap as she reads.

"Hey, Tris?" I say.

"Yeah?"

"When are you going to tell Christina?"

She thinks for a second, then stretches casually, though I see the tightness in her posture.

"Dunno," she replies. "Soon, I think. You know, since everybody seems to be finding out on their own already." She puts a bookmark in her book and sits up, scooting closer so that she leans against me. "The way that Zeke found out was not the way that I had planned, but, can anyone plan anything with Zeke?"

"No, I guess not," I say. "What was the way you were planning to tell him anyway?"

She shrugs. "Guess I didn't have any plans about that yet, since I wasn't going to be telling him a while longer. But I'm thinking about doing something similar with Christina as I did with you. You know, slip a note into her pocket, big 'dramatic' reveal, that kind of thing."

I chuckle. "I wouldn't call it 'dramatic,'"

She raises an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? What else would you call it?"

I put my finger to my chin, pretending to think. "I don't know, maybe _intense_ —"

She playfully shoves me into the side of the couch and I shove her back. She falls back into a laying position, laughing. I frame her body with my arms and legs. She chuckles and grabs my waist, rolling us both off the couch and onto the ground, and she is on top of me, yet again.

"Got you, _again,"_ she says with a smug smile. "Looks like _someone_ hasn't been training lately." She stands and helps me to my feet.

"Yeah, well, my girlfriend was pretty dead a couple of days ago. I guess I had no reason to train anymore either."

She slumps back down on the couch and I sit next to her.

The next hour and a half we sit there together, doing nothing, just sitting there. And that night, we go outside to the roof of the apartment building to look at the stars.

It is on this night, that I completely and fully accept that she is real, alive, and well, laying right next to me.


	10. Chapter 10

**Tris POV.**

I fall asleep on the rooftop, and when I wake up I am in my own bed. Tobias must have carried me here last night.

From the sound of running water in the bathroom, it seems like he is taking a shower. I close my eyes again and sleep for a while longer.

I dream to back the way it was before, Tobias didn't know that I was alive, back when he mourned for me, cried for me, thought that I was gone forever.

I wake up with tears in my eyes. I sit up and wipe them away just as Tobias comes back.

"Good morning," he says. He sits at the edge of the bed, drying his hair with a towel. He sees my expression and he stops and asks, "What's wrong?"

I wipe under my eye with my sleeve to get anything left. "Nothing, it's nothing."

"No, it's not nothing, what's wrong?"

"I just… had a dream. It's fine now."

He puts his hand on my shoulder. "You can tell me anything, you know that?"

I nod. "Yeah, yeah I know." He puts his arms around me a pulls me into a hug.

I sigh burying my face into his shoulder. We sit there for a minute, hugging.

"You know what?" I say as I pull away. "I think I'm ready to tell Christina."

 **Tobias POV.**

 _This is stupid,_ I think to myself as I slip the note into Christina's mailbox. Tris has tasked me with the job to secretly leave a note somewhere that Christina will see it, because Christina is already skeptical about Tris being alive, so she couldn't do it herself.

I leave and meet Tris back at my own apartment. In the past few days, I have sort of moved into hers, because I want to stay with her as much as I can. We have never slept in my bed, but I think that that's kind of good, because my bed is always a mess.

She has made herself at home on my couch, sitting there, legs crossed, reading a book. When I enter, she looks up at me, putting a bookmark in because she knows that we are going to have a conversation.

"Did she see you?" she asks.

"No," I say, sitting in a chair across from her. "Are you sure that this is a good idea?"

She frowns. "Why wouldn't I be sure? I just… don't want her to figure it out by herself, like Zeke. He was fine when he found out, but that's because we aren't that close friends. But Christina is one of my closest friends, and if she found out by herself she wouldn't take it very well."

"Well, yeah. But are you sure she's ready? She's still not done getting over you… dying."

"Well, I guess we don't have much of a choice anymore," she says. "It's already done. She's bound to see it soon."

I sigh. "Alright." I look at her. She seems relaxed enough. It's been bothering me for a while, what she wanted me to know, why she wanted me to come back later after our first night together since she "died."

"So, Tris." She tenses up, sensing a serious conversation.

"Yeah?"

"What was it that you wanted to tell me the day after I found out?"

She relaxes a little. "Oh, that. I was actually just going to tell you that Zeke was skeptical about me actually being dead, and to tell you to be careful. I thought that if I had told you before you left, it would be harder for you to pretend that you didn't know."

I relax too. That had been bothering me for a while, and now that I know what it was, I can relax and stop thinking about it.

Sometimes I wonder how lonely it was for Tris when nobody knew that she wasn't dead. I mean, she spent most of two years having to watch her friends move on without her through a window, where no one could see her, but she could see them. I know what it's like to be alone, I really do, but I was never _actually_ alone. I always had someone that I could turn to. But she didn't. She wasn't allowed to tell anyone, and that's the thing that scares me. Who was it that told Tris not to tell anyone she was alive? Who was it that _kept_ her alive? That is a question that I fear will never be answered. If even Tris doesn't know, then how would anyone else know?

The thought that whoever it was didn't want anyone else to know is the most disturbing part of all. If anything, Tris should be allowed to tell whoever she wants that she didn't die in that weapons lab, but there's no reason that she shouldn't tell anyone.

"We should get to bed," Tris says, snapping me out of my daze. "C'mon, you haven't slept in your own bed for a while."


	11. Chapter 11

**Tris POV.**

His room looks better up close than it does from a window.

Still the same amount of mess, but here it looks tamer. He picks a few things up and throws them somewhere else so that we don't have to step on them on our way to his bed. I don't mind the mess, for some reason, a clean room would make me feel less at home.

Tobias's bed smells like Tobias, which I don't mind either. Of course, Tobias smells like Tobias, but the scent is stronger here, making me feel safer.

We both lay down and I fall asleep almost immediately.

I wake up that morning, and the room is cleaner than it was before. Tobias must have cleaned it before I woke up and gotten back into bed, because he is laying right behind me with his arm around me.

I don't want to get up, but I know that I have to if I want to tell Christina that I am alive.

I wrote on the note, _The third test. 8:00 PM._ With the same ravens on the back, but not the Dauntless flames. That was exclusively for Tobias. She doesn't need to think to hard on that one, since I made it pretty easy to decode. The third test, was when we jumped off a building, when we made our first entrance into the Dauntless compound. And it also literally says what time we are meeting, so that's something.

I need to wait until 8:00 before I meet her, so I have a lot of time to kill. Tobias spend that time getting things from his apartment and moving them to my apartment, because we decided that living in separate apartments won't do much good since we are going to be sleeping in the same bed, no matter who's bed it is.

It is going to take multiple days to move him into my apartment, but that's okay. As long as we're together.

By the end of the day, we have moved all of the things that Tobias needs all the time. Like, a toothbrush, a comb, a bunch of extra pairs of clothes and his dresser. This is going to be a long process.

The time is 7:00 when I leave to meet Christina. I hope that she actually comes, for her sake and for mine.

"I'll be back," I promise Tobias as I open the door. "I just don't know if I'll be back satisfied or not."

"Be careful," he says. "I don't want you getting hurt or anything."

I smile. "I won't."

He touches my cheek before I leave, closing the door behind me.

Since the only way to get on that roof is from jumping off a train, I have to get on one to get there, obviously. The train hurdles past me and I jog with it until I see an open car. It's been a long time since I've done this. It is just as exhilarating as it was the first time I did.

I grab the handle and swing myself into the car, stumbling a few steps when I get in, because I am still not used to the rattling of the train car anymore. I sit down against the wall, alone. It was so long ago that I did that for the first time, jumped onto a moving train.

I wait.

When I finally get to the rooftops, my back is sore from waiting in the car for so long. I stand up and hold onto the handle as I stand in the doorway. When the roof starts to pass, I jump. I do a roll as I hit the ground to cushion the impact.

I see someone waiting at the edge of the roof. _Christina_. The sun starts to lower at the horizon.

She turns around suddenly, probably from hearing me land on the gravel on the roof.

"Who is that? Who are y—you?" she says nervously, as if afraid that it might be me.

"Christina," I say. "It's me, it's Tris."

"N—no it's not. Tris is dead. Who are you?" she demands. There is a quaver in her voice.

"I think you know."

She stays still for a moment. "No. I refuse to believe it. Tell me, who the _hell_ you are!"

"Christina, it's _me,_ it _is_ Tris. If you would just let me—"

"No!" she interrupts, her voice filling with pain. "You aren't Tris, you are just a bastard that thinks playing this dumb joke on me is funny. Tris is _dead_. She died two _years_ ago. And she is not coming back… She's—she's not coming back." She sounds like she is trying to convince herself with her own words.

I start coming toward her. "Don't! Take another _step_!" She takes a gun out from the holster at her side and points it at me. "Don't take one more step towards me or I swear to god I will _kill_ you."

I place my hand on my own gun. "Christina, think about it. They switched my real body with a fake one, to make everyone think I died. You have thought about it before, I know you have. _Think_ , Christina."

She struggles for words. "I—I don't know what to think." She wipes something that looks like a tear off her cheek. "Just—just tell me the truth."

"I am telling you the truth. You just have to accept it."

She doesn't say anything. I need to convince her.

"You remember that time that moth flew at you? When you freaked out?" She stares at me, confused. "You are scared of moths, remember how I learned that? It was just you and me. No one else around. If I wasn't Tris, how would I know that?" I see her hesitating. _Keep it going._ "Do you remember when you and I got our first tattoos together? I still have it, see?" I pull my shirt down to reveal my collarbone and the three ravens flying towards my heart.

Her gun clatters to the ground as she gasps.

"T—Tris?"

"Yes," I say.

Her surprise turns to anger very quickly. "Where the hell have you been all this time?! What the hell happened?! You have some explaining to do, and you are going to do it, right now! And Tris, I swear, if I am not dreaming, I am GOING to actually _kill_ you. Got that?"

"Okay," I say, trying to keep her calm. She picks her gun off the ground and puts it away.

"I am going to explain, _everything,_ okay? We just need to go somewhere else first. Maybe down there?" I point down the hole at the net.

She glares at me. "Fine, but only if you promise to tell me everything that's going on, and why you didn't tell me that you didn't, I don't know, _die_?"

"I promise." _That line sounds familiar._


	12. Chapter 12

**Tris POV.**

She jumps off the net first, after making me promise again that I am actually going to be coming after her.

She jumps.

I stand at the ledge, staring down at what looks like a bottomless abyss, but it is not. It is an entrance into the place that I would have called home if such terrible things did not happen to me and… everyone else.

An image of Uriah comes into my head, but I push it back before I can even let myself think about it. I won't let myself dwell on Uriah's death any longer.

I wait until I am sure that she is down there and off the net, then I jump as well. The wind wraps around me, soft, but painful at the same time. Comforting, like a blanket, but cold.

I gasp a little when I hit the net.

Christina is waiting at the platform, tapping her foot. The look she gives when she sees me is pure hatred. I need to figure out a way to get her on my side.

We walk to the railing that overlooks the Chasm.

"Now," Christina says, sitting cross-legged on the ground, not caring how dirty it is. "Tell me everything. _Now_."

I start to tell the story. And as I do, her eyes show less and less hatred.

But that doesn't mean it's not there anymore.

When I tell her that Tobias and Zeke know already, the angry look is back. And so is the angry voice. " _What?_ Four and Zeke _knew?_ For how long?"

"Not long!" I say quickly. The last thing I need is for her to get even more angry than she was before. I wish I had brought Tobias with me. I would have felt at least a little safer. "Zeke found out by himself; Tobias found out by me telling him."

She takes a deep breath. "Go on."

"That's it," I say. "There's nothing else to go on about. I don't know who saved me, or why."

She lowers her face into her hands. "I need to be alone," she says shakily. "I'll find a way to contact you. But right now, I want to be alone."

"I understand." I walk away. And as I do, I hear her sob behind me. I don't turn around. She said that she want's to be alone. Even though I know it's wrong to leave her alone in that state, it is something she wants. She needs time to figure out what to do. And I am going to give it to her.

I know that she would never do something like jump into the Chasm; I know Christina well enough to know that she would never be suicidal, that's a reason that I leave her there so easily.

When I get back to my apartment, Tobias opens the door before I can. "Where have you been?" he demands. "You've been gone for five hours!"

I stare at him for a second, then check my watch. He is right. It's 1:03 AM.

"I'm sorry," I say. "It… took a while to get her to understand." Blinking back a few tears, I push past him and sit on my couch, cupping my face in my hands.

He closes the door and walks up to me, the anger that he had from me being gone for so long dissipated in an instant.

"Something went wrong," Tobias guesses as he sits next to me.

I nod.

"What happened?"

I take a shaky breath and tell him about Christina's reaction.

He grits his teeth. "She pulled a gun on you?"

"I'm fine."

"But she pulled a gun on you, and that is not okay, because…" His voice trails off and presses his fingertips to the scar on my neck from when I got shot and went into a coma.

To be honest, when Christina pulled the gun on me, I didn't have time to think about what would happen if she pulled the trigger, I was to focused on what would happen if I told her the truth.

I take Tobias's hand. "She would never shoot me, if she thinks I'm real or no; she would never shoot anyone."

"That still doesn't make it okay."

I sigh. "Yeah, I know. But she was panicking, she didn't know what else to do."

He looks like he is trying not to get mad. I understand why he would be angry at Christina for pulling a gun on me, I really do, but it is starting to feel like he is taking this way to seriously.

"Tobias, I'm _fine_." This kind of thing happens occasionally, where he gets angry for no reason. Not at me, but most of the time it's because of something that someone said or did to me. "Christina needs some time to figure it out. She didn't take it very well."

"Oh, _really?"_

"Calm _down,_ Tobias. It's not that big a deal."

He takes a deep breath. "Fine. Okay. Let's go to bed."

Going to bed, it feels like the situation has not been settled yet. Which it hasn't. Despite that we just had an argument, we sleep just as close to each other as we do other nights.

Even when something happens between us, we always stay together; we always comfort each other.


	13. Chapter 13

**Tobias POV.**

I still can't believe that Christina would do something like that.

Pulling a gun on Tris, the girl that almost died _multiple_ times from a gun. I wonder what would bring her to point a gun on her best friend. I mean, I know that she was in denial, but that doesn't make it right that she threatened Tris's life.

She doesn't fall asleep for a while after we go to bed. I can't see her face, but I can tell that she is still awake from the rhythm of her breathing; faster than it would be if she was relaxed, asleep.

I kiss the back of her head and close my eyes.

The next morning, I wake up with Tris not in the bed with me but sitting cross-legged at her desk reading something. She is wearing an ivory, knitted sweatshirt. She looks good in that color, it makes her golden hair stand out more. But it feels weird seeing her in anything other than black.

I get out of bed and go onto my knees behind her, putting my arms around her.

"Hi," she says. I kiss the side of her neck. Her skin is warm, a little _too_ warm. I notice that she is shivering, despite that she is wearing such a warm sweater and pretty comfortable looking sweatpants. Her cheeks are flushed, but not in the embarrassed way.

"Are you sick?" I ask.

She presses her hand to her forehead. "I think so."

"Then you should be in bed."

She shakes her head. "It's too warm in bed. Laying down would make me feel better, but it would also make me feel uncomfortable."

"You could… lay on the couch," I suggest.

"It's to _cold_ out there. The only place that I'm really comfortable is here."

I stand up. When I take my arms away she starts to shiver even more. She grabs my arms before I can pull away completely and brings them back around her.

"Cold," she mumbles.

"Yeah, no. You're going to lay down," I say.

"But—" I pick her up with a grunt and bring her over to her bed. "Tobias!" But she is too weak to fight back. I place a shivering Tris down on her bed.

"I was fine where I was," she grumbles. She turns onto her side and I finally get a good look at her face. Her cheeks and nose are bright red, her eyes are bloodshot.

"You don't look too good," I say.

She coughs. "I don't _feel_ too good." She closes her eyes and I realize that she is falling to sleep. I lean over and press my palm to her burning forehead. I need to get her temperature down.

I go into her kitchen and grab a clean rag and get it wet with cold water, then I go back to her room and place it on her forehead, causing her to snap awake. "What…" she says, then she realizes that I just put a rag on her head, then relaxes again.

"Do you need anything?" I ask.

She responds by holding her arms out. I sigh and lay down with her. She wraps her arms around me and presses her warm face against my chest. It's hard to believe that this girl was jumping off of trains the day before. Even when she is sick she is beautiful, in a weird, adorable way.

I comb my fingers through her hair because I can't think of anything else to do right now besides let my thoughts get the best of me.

Too late.

What if the reason that Tris is sick like this is because Christina kept her out too long, asking so may questions? She also could be sick from all the stress that talking to Christina caused. It _is_ possible to get sick under stress, or under pressure, like Tris was when she told Christina.

I am still not over the fact that Christina pulled a gun on Tris. Of all the things she could have done in that situation, she decided to point a _gun_ at her? She didn't even know if it was Tris or not!

I sigh again. I can't let myself dwell on that. Besides, I have a sick girlfriend to take care of.

Her body is _really_ warm against mine. Her breathing is fast, she's coughing occasionally, all the symptoms of a fever.

I kiss her burning forehead and she mumbles something inaudible.

"What was that?" I ask. She doesn't answer, just nestles closer. I know that she is probably overheating right now, with me laying with her. But she probably just wants comfort. With the sick and the stress from Christina's reaction combined, she needs the comfort.

Someone rings the doorbell and Tris jumps.

"I got it." I get up and leave my shivering girlfriend laying alone in her bed.

When I open the door, it is Christina who is waiting there.

* * *

 **Hey guys! Sorry I'm posting a little late.**

 **I'm sick, so I decided to make it so that Tris was sick so that she could _feel my pain! Muahahahahaha!_**

 **But seriously, sorry for posting late. It's a little stressful posting new chapters every day, but it's fun!**

 **Also, I need feedback on this: how do you want Caleb to find out? Do you want Tris to tell him? Do you want him to figure it out by himself? And if she tells him, where do you want it to be? I hope that you guys give some good answers! If you got any ideas, just PM me about it!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Tobias POV.**

"Four?" Christina says. "Where's Tris?"

"Sick," I say flatly.

"What? Can I see her?"

"Well, are you going to pull a gun on her again?"

"What the hell? No! Now can I see her?"

I sigh and pull the door the rest of the way open. "She's laying down right now." Christina stands in the living room for a moment, looking around.

"So, this is where she's been all this time? Watching you from there?" She points at the window.

"I guess so," I say. I gesture for her to follow into Tris's bedroom, where Tris is laying, shivering in her bed. The sight of Tris brings tears into Christina's eyes.

"I can't believe that it's actually her," she says.

"Well, it is," I say. "Is there a reason you came? Did you know she was sick?"

"No. I wanted to talk to her, but that doesn't seem like an option right now, so I guess that I'll leave then."

She starts towards the door. She gets through the living room and to right in front of the door, and I follow her last second.

"Are you mad at her?" I ask, and she freezes.

"What do you mean?"

"Are you mad that she kept it from you for so long?"

She doesn't look back at me as she sighs and responds, "I don't know how I am supposed to feel about it. Should I be happy that my best friend isn't dead, or should I be mad that she didn't tell me for such a long time? I wanted to talk to her about whether or not she still wanted to be my friend after how I reacted."

"Of course, she would still want to be your friend, regardless of how you reacted. But I think that you should be happier that she is alive than angry that she never told you. She was forced to stay hidden by someone she didn't even know. That would scare anyone into keeping quiet, don't you think?"

She hesitates. "Yeah… I—I should go." She opens the door and leaves just as fast as she came.

I go back to Tris and lay down with her. She feels me lay down again and wraps her arms around me. She stops shivering, since the heat of another body is much warmer than a couple of blankets.

"Who was that?" she asks sluggishly.

"No one."

She is too tired to be more skeptical about it. "Okay." She closes her eyes again and falls asleep. Eventually, I find myself dozing off too. Even though it's not even noon yet.

When I wake up, the sun is setting, and Tris is still asleep, and still very sick.

Still breathing fast, but she is sweating a lot, and that means that the fever is breaking, and that is good. I run my fingers through her hair out of habit. It's really hard to resist the urge to do that. Her hair has gotten much longer since she "died", instead of reaching her chin, it reaches barely to the bottom of her neck.

I close my eyes again, but don't sleep. If I sleep any more, I won't be able to sleep when I am actually supposed to, at night.

Tris looks miserable in the state that she is in, but it also seems like she is getting better. Over time, her breathing slows, and she seems to relax more.

And she also snores.

I try not to laugh as her snoring gets louder. I know that it is a normal thing to happen when people are sick, but I have never heard Tris snore like that before.

I carefully get out of bed, making sure that she doesn't notice. And she doesn't.

As I leave the room, I catch a glimpse of paper sticking out of one of the drawers in her desk. I walk over and quietly slide the drawer open. Inside, is a large stack of paper, all filled with information about all the people she knows. Me, Zeke, Christina, Caleb, and even Matthew, who she didn't even know for very long before what happened, happened.

Each document is hand-written, with many notes on how we behave, what we do when we're nervous, how we act when something is bothering us, stuff that I didn't even know that I did.

It makes me really understand how lonely she was during the time that she was dead, so lonely that she had nothing else to do but study our behavioral patterns.

It's hard to believe how hard it was for her to have to do things like that to pass time… having to watch her friends—her _family_ move on from her, start to forget her, want to forget her, _try_ to forget her.

I look back at Tris. She looks so peaceful, laying down, sleeping, but she has gone through so much for her to get here. I can't imagine the courage it took for her to tell anyone that she was alive, after getting ordered by someone that she doesn't even know that she could never tell anyone.

After a couple of days of me taking care of my sick girlfriend, and not doing anything else because there's nothing else to do without Tris, she starts to get better. But not better enough that I let her get out of bed.


	15. Chapter 15

**Tris POV.**

"I really don't need this," I say to Tobias as he gives me breakfast-in-bed.

"Stop denying it, because it's just going to happen anyway," he says.

I roll my eyes.

"Seriously, I'm _fine_. It's past."

He crosses his arms at me, raising his eyebrows.

"What _?"_ I say.

"Nothing," he says, shrugging his shoulders. "I was just wondering why you would be shivering right now if it had passed."

I look down and realize that my body is shaking. "I _feel_ fine," I say. " I may not look it, but I feel it."

"Uh-huh," he says unconvincingly. "Oh, by the way, when you were way sicker than you are right now, Christina came and visited."

" _What?"_

"Yeah. She came, she saw that you were real, then she left. Just thought that I should tell you."

"How did she even know that I was here? I never told her that I was staying here," I say.

He scratches the back of his neck. "Really? I sort of just assumed that you had told her. It must have been Zeke, he's the only other person that knows where you live."

"Dammit, Zeke," I say under my breath. "Well, there's nothing really we can do about it now."

"I guess so."

I take a bite of toast. "This is burnt," I say.

"I don't cook much."

"I noticed." I smirk and place the tray down next to me and gesture for him to come over.

"What?" he asks.

"Come here."

He comes and sits down next to me. I put my arms around him and pull him against me. "Being sick sucks," I say.

"So, you've told me." He kisses my cheek. "Your face is still really warm."

"Wow. Is that the only reason you just did that?"

"No, I also just wanted to kiss you."

I laugh a little. "Well, you did. Happy?"

He shrugs. "Not really. Not until I can actually kiss you without also catching a fever. But I'll just stick with this, for now." He kisses my cheek again. I think that this is the first time that his lips are actually colder than my face. Weird.

I notice that one of the drawers on my desk is a little open. I wonder if he's been looking through my stuff. I don't mind, though, he already knows that I was watching them for a long time, so it wouldn't be extremely absurd that I payed attention to what they were doing that whole time.

"Are you going to eat the rest of your food?" Tobias asks.

"You know, being sick kind of kills your appetite."

"Ha! So, you admit you're still sick?"

I don't answer.

He laughs and pulls me closer. "You slept a lot when you were sick, and I also learned something about you that I didn't know before."

"What is it?"

"You snore when you're sick."

I groan. "Really? Aw, I'm sorry."

"Don't worry. It's cute. You're also adorable when you're sick."

"Tobias, can you do me a favor?" I say.

"What is it?"

"Shut up. Please. For my sake and for yours."

He laughs again, so hard that he has to double over.

"Come on. It wasn't _that_ funny," I say.

"Yeah, it kind of was."

* * *

 **Hey guys! I am sorry to say, that this will be that last day of daily uploading. I've just been really stressed lately, and also sick, and I need a break. Sorry! I'll still try to post frequently, but it will be in my own time.**

 **Also sorry about how freakishly short this chapter was. I was sort of in a rush to upload.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Tobias POV.**

A couple of mornings later, I wake up and Tris is sitting at her desk, not looking sick whatsoever. She is searching through a drawer, and I realize that it is the same drawer that I searched through the other day. I wonder if she noticed that someone had tampered with it. But her expression reads that she is just looking through it, nothing else.

"Hey," I say.

She looks over at me with a start and puts the papers back in the drawer. "I didn't know that you were awake," she says, closing the drawer even though it's overflowing, and she has to close it on a bunch of papers.

"What are you doing?" I ask.

"Oh, just, looking at old stuff."

"You feeling better?"

"Yeah, actually. I have a lot of energy right now, now that I'm not sick anymore."

"Really?" I get up and press my palm to her forehead. It is a completely normal temperature.

"See? All better."

"That's weird. It was pretty bad last night."

"It happens. One moment you're sick, the next you are completely fine." She shrugs. "But thank you, for taking care of me."

"It's kind of my priority to take care of my girlfriend when she's sick, so…"

She nudges me with her arm. "Hey, why don't we go on a walk, huh? Just the two of us."

"Why this all the sudden?"

"I have been in bed for an entire week, Tobias, I want to go outside."

"Alright, then, let's go."

"Hold on, I need to take a shower. Staying in bed for a week really makes you stink." She grabs some black clothes from her dresser, probably not really thinking about the fact that she just chose Dauntless clothes, then walks into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. I hear the sound of the shower turning on.

I get dressed before she gets out and sit on the edge of the bed while I wait.

A couple of minutes later she comes out wearing black jeans and a black sweatshirt, her hair wet with moisture from the shower.

She straps a watch to her wrist and I realize that it is the same watch that she used to use during the war and at the Bureau.

She was shot wearing that watch.

She puts it on with a grim look on her face, and I see that she subconsciously rubs the scar on her neck with her hand.

"Ready?" she asks.

"Yeah."

We leave and walk down the stairs and through the lobby of the apartment building. When we get out onto the streets, she puts her hood over her head.

"What are you doing?"

"I do this every time I'm out. I don't want anyone that I know to recognize me."

"That's strange," I say.

"You would do the same." That's just might be true, if I died but didn't and decided not to tell anyone about it. But the thing is, if anything like that happened to me, I would tell everyone what happened, when it happened, regardless if I had been told not to.

We pass a dark alley next to a giant building.

"It's weird," I say.

She glances at me from the corner of her eye. "What's weird?"

"The fact that, when you were gone, the city looked sad, and depressed. Probably because _I_ felt sad and depressed, so I only noticed the bad things. But now, since you're here, and I'm happy, I notice the beautiful and happy things."

She reaches over and takes my hand. "You know," she says, "I think that it's the same for me."

Our fingers twist together tightly as we walk. Everything has gotten so much better since she came back, like the world itself has changed completely. Before I learned that she hadn't died, I was alone, I stayed away from anyone that tried to talk to me, tried to communicate with me in any way. And she knew that I felt that way, so why didn't she tell me sooner? Why did she wait so long? I mean, I know _why_ , but she broke the rules, she worked up the courage, she could have told me any time, but decided not to because someone that she didn't even know the name of told her not to. I get that she was scared about what would happen, but the Tris I know would have told anyway, the moment she learned what happened.

"Tobias?" She squeezes my hand, bringing me back to reality. At least she told me, not fast, but at least she told me at some point, instead of not at all.

"Yeah?"

She breaths in, and breaths out, then nods her head forward. "Look who's in front of us."

I look forward and almost stop cold in my tracks.

 _Caleb_.

* * *

 **Hey! Sorry about the wait, and how short it is. I've just been busy with some personal stuff lately. I hope you like this chapter!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Tobias POV.**

Caleb is walking right in front of us, unaware that we are even there. I pull Tris back in the direction we came, because the last thing that Tris and I need is an interaction with _Caleb_.

Tris pulls back on me and says, "Tobias, we need to slow down. He'll notice us easier if we're running."

I slow down to a walk. "Alright." I trust her judgment about it. She's probably had much experience trying to get people not to notice her.

But it's too late.

"Four?" I hear Caleb's voice behind me. I turn around and Tris runs off down the street. In the brief moment that I catch her eye, I can see that the last thing that she wants is for Caleb to find out.

And I agree.

"Who was that?" Caleb asks.

"No one." Lying comes easily to me, in dangerous situations like these. I have had much experience having to lie about things. "I ran into them. They were in a hurry, I guess." I try to add a bitterness to my voice, so that he thinks that I am still angry at him that he let Tris take his place. Which I still am.

It must have worked, because his expression turns grim, but he tries to keep things lighthearted, but I can still feel the tension between us, stretching so far that it is on the verge of snapping.

"So… how have you been?" Caleb asks.

I grit my teeth and look away from him. I can barely look at him, let alone talk to him in a normal conversation.

"I'm sorry, Four, she did it herself," he says, and I look back at him, anger flaring in my chest. Just those words alone makes me want to break his nose into splinters. As if there was no other reason for me to hate him. The fact that he thinks he had no choice is the worst of all. He shouldn't have cared that Tris was holding a gun at him, he should have gone anyway.

I take a deep breath, clenching my fists. "Just. Go."

The space between his eyebrows wrinkle as they pull together. "I loved her, too, you know. She was my sister."

"If she really was your 'sister,' then you would have gone into that weapons room and died instead of her," I say, dangerously calm. I have a talent at doing that, making myself seem more intimidating than I actually am.

But I am not acting anymore.

"I have no idea why she took your place, since you betrayed her and helped Jeanine Matthews _torture_ her and deliver her to her own execution. You're lucky that Peter was there, because she would have died. Oh, wait, I guess there's not much difference since she died anyway, because of _you_."

"It's not my fault! She—"

I hold my hand up to stop him talking. "Shut up. Or I swear to God I will punch you in front of all these people, and even I don't know if it will only be once."

He takes a step back. "You think that I don't regret what I did? You think that I _wanted_ her to take my place? It was _Beatrice_ , for God sakes—"

"Don't you call her 'Beatrice.'"

"Well, what else am I supposed to call her? That idiotic name that she came up with because she simply didn't _like_ her real one?"

"You lost the right to call her by her full name a _long_ time ago."

"Well that was the name of my sister. And I know, I know that she wanted to be called something else. She didn't want to be my sister anymore. She didn't want to be part of my family."

"From what I've heard, you were the one that chose first. And you were the one that left your family first. So, you don't get to say that." This has happened every time that I have seen Caleb. We've argued about who's fault it really is that Tris was gone. And we both know that it was Caleb's fault, but he just doesn't want to admit it to himself that she died because of his arrogance.

I blink tears away and look at him with hatred. "There was a time that she cared about you, Caleb," I say. "On visiting day, during her initiation, the thing that she wanted most was for you to visit her. When she felt like she was in a vulnerable situation, guess who she went to. That's right. She went to _you_ , because she wanted comfort. She was worried about you, during the attack simulation. It was only when _you_ betrayed her trust, that she stopped caring. She lost so much, and you were the only person in her family left. And thanks to you, she lost that only member of her family. And if you hadn't volunteered to go to the weapons room, she would be standing here, right now."

He stands still and silent.

"You know that tattoo that she got on her collarbone? The three ravens?" I say. "That was for _you_ , and your family. Your mom, your dad, and _you_. It should have been you, Caleb. I wish that it was you. Because then I would have my girlfriend, that meant so much more to me than anything else in my life, even my _own_ life. You are a selfish, impotent human being, that got the best person in both of our lives _killed_. And I am never going to let you live that down for the _rest_ of your life."

His expression is full of shock.

I turn around and walk down the street, leaving Caleb standing there with shock in his face and his eyes filling with tears. That was the first time that anyone has told him what the three ravens on Tris's collarbone symbolizes. It used to symbolize only the people in her family, but now it also symbolizes the people in her family that has left her forever.

The hate that I feel for Caleb will always be there, whether Tris is alive or not. But one thing's for sure:

I never thought that I would ever despise someone even more than Marcus.


	18. Chapter 18

**Tobias POV.**

I leave Caleb standing in the middle of the sidewalk shell-shocked and go in the direction that Tris ran off to.

For a former Erudite, Caleb must be pretty stupid to think anything other than it was his fault.

I walk for a while, trying to find Tris.

"Tobias," someone whispers next to me.

I jump as I turn, to see Tris standing next to me, so close that I definitely would have noticed her show up, but for some reason I didn't. She has gotten a lot better at stuff like that.

"I didn't see you there," I say.

She smiles a little. "I don't think that I've ever seen you jump like that before."

"I haven't had much practice lately."

"I know."

We walk in silence for a little bit, until I ask, "Were you listening?"

"Yes." She looks straight forward, avoiding eye contact. "I didn't know that you cared so much about it. And I didn't know how much Caleb didn't care about it. But I guess I shouldn't be surprised after all the things that he did. He was the only one that I actually _didn't_ want to tell. In fact, I never even thought about telling him about it."

"Oh, I wonder why. Maybe it's because he handed you over to the Erudite, then proceeded to try and kill you, then just _let_ you take his place when _he_ was supposed to die. I know you didn't die, but for the time that I thought you were dead was like hell." I look over at her and her eyes go off to the side. "But, at least you told me at some point, and not at all."

She looks up at me with a surprised look. "So… you're not mad? That I didn't tell you for so long?"

"Oh, I'm mad, but I'm choosing to ignore it, because you had the best intentions."

"I understand… Tobias, I don't even know why you want to be with me anymore."

I look back at her. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I've done so many things, gotten people killed, made the worst decisions, all the things that should make you despise me, but you don't, and I don't understand why."

I don't answer for so long, that by the time I finally speak, her apartment building is already in sight.

"Tris, do you think that I fell in love with you because you did everything right?" I say.

She purses her lips but doesn't say anything.

"No. I fell in love with you because you did things wrong, but instead of giving up, you pushed forward, you became more confident, more willing to do what was right." We reach the front lobby of her apartment building and walk inside. "The things that you did, that was because you _had_ too. And, Tris," I take her hand, "no matter how much I would want to, I would never resent you, or hate you. I'm not saying that I want to, I'm just saying that _if_ I wanted to." I cringe at how bad that sounded.

She laughs nervously. "Really?"

"Really." I kiss her forehead and we move along to her apartment.

* * *

 **Hey guys. Sorry this one took so long, and how short it is. I'm losing inspiration. I need ideas for what to do next, because I am _completely_ clueless on what else to write. So please, give a review, something— _anything,_ to do next, because I need something or I'll have to end this fanfic on a complete cliffhanger.**


	19. Chapter 19

**Tris POV.**

Tobias doesn't hate me for telling him so late.

That's good, but he's still mad at me. It has been bothering me for a while now, whether or not he is mad at me for not telling him. At least he's not infuriated or anything, that I know of.

I don't think that there's anything that I can do that will make him forgive me, but I have to do _something_. Maybe figure out who kept me alive, that would help. I've been trying to figure that out for a _long_ time. The people/person that kept me alive is really good at keeping a low profile, because of the two years that Tobias didn't know that I was there the whole time, _they_ managed to watch _me_ watching my friends. If that's the case, then it's only a matter of time before they come for me.

One thing that I haven't told Tobias yet, is that they, not only just tell me not to tell him, but _threatened_ me not to. They threatened by telling me that if I told anyone, that they would track me down and shoot, this time not keeping me in a coma. They didn't say anything about the people I tell, but I have this feeling that it would be a similar fate to mine.

Tobias stands next to me now, but what happens when he no longer does?

We enter my apartment and I close the door behind us. Come to think of it, maybe it wasn't such a good idea for us both to move into this apartment. For all I know, this place could be bugged.

Not like I've had experience with being watched, or anything.

I sit on the couch and stare out the window at the sky. Since my apartment is on the top floor of the building, it is easy to see over the one right next to it. I could also go to my bedroom to look out the window, since the one in there isn't facing any other buildings head on, but I would prefer to be sitting there on the couch.

Tobias moving from his apartment to mine has gone by quicker than I thought. Maybe because he didn't have much stuff, since he almost never left the house to go anywhere, and when he did, he would stay gone for a long time, going over his fear landscape multiple times in a row, maybe walking around aimlessly until it got dark that he had to go home.

He told me that during the time that I was gone was hell for him, and I know that, but it was hell for me, too, not being able to resist watching him through the window, following him wherever he went, praying that he wouldn't find out before I was ready for him to know.

I noticed as well, that he also didn't notice me when I was watching and listening to him have that conversation with Caleb. Tobias has always disliked Caleb, and the reasons are obvious. Ever since he turned me over to the Erudite, Tobias despised him. Sure, he got him out of the cell from the Factionless at the Erudite compound, but that was for me, because _I_ wanted him out, because _I_ didn't want him executed. It was a good decision, but Tobias must have hated it.

I should tell him now, but I shouldn't. What would he think of me if I told him now?

"Tris?" Tobias squeezes my hand, breaking my train of thought. "You okay?"

I nod and look back out the window. I shouldn't be making Tobias worry. He already has plenty of reasons to worry about me, and he _does_ worry, he just doesn't show it very much.

It has always bee a little hard for him to show his emotions, for him to show them to _other_ people, that is. He trusted me to see his fears in the landscape, the _first_ four fears that he has had. Sure, it has changed over time, his fear of heights is still there, so is confinement, but Marcus with the belt was replaced with Marcus with the words that strike him emotionally, wounding his pride, and the fear of violence, where he once had to shoot someone to death every single time he went in, has changed into me dying all over again. And since he knows _how_ I "died", he sees it the way it really was, me getting shot by David in the weapons room and dying instead of a coma.

The changes have been there all this time, but he acts like it is completely normal for him to see other things, but it isn't. The fear landscape is made not to be a coping mechanism, it is made to dilute fears, to help you control them. Tobias has used it in a different way, and a more complicated way. He uses it to see me again, he uses it to be able to get revenge on Marcus whenever he appears and so does that gun on the table.

The way that Tobias copes with things… it's not the way that other people do. Other people would look at a picture to remember my face, Tobias would go through all of his worst fears just to see me die again.

When Tobias goes through something like that, there is no getting it out of his mind.

Without warning, Tobias puts his arms around me and pulls me against him.

"Wha—"

"Shh," he shushes me. "Everyone has emotions, Tris, and I can just _see_ you working them down. It's alright to let go once in a while, okay?"

I feel the tears in my eyes, starting to fall. He holds me tightly as I sob into his shoulder.

"Tobias I was so scared," I say through my sobbing.

He strokes his hand over my hair, seeming satisfied, as if he wanted me to cry.

"I know," he says. "I would be too."

We spend a long time there, with me sobbing and sobbing, and him comforting me, until it turns night and I start to get tired. My eyes get heavy as I finally stop crying. Tobias leads me to my— _our_ room and lays me down. I fall asleep before I can even think about anything else.


	20. Chapter 20

**Tobias POV.**

I push the blankets over her and she closes her eyes in an instant.

Tris never cries this badly. I feel like it's proof that she's still human, however.

I brush the hair from her face and watch her sleep. She looks so peaceful, almost like she didn't just cry for over half an hour then collapse from exhaustion afterwards. It's amazing that she could keep her emotions down like that for so long, especially during the time that it took for her to work up to courage to tell me about it.

She still has tears on her cheeks. Looking at her now, it's hard to believe that she has lost so much. Her mother, her father, her brother, her friends, almost her own _life_. She is strong, and it's amazing that she hasn't broke yet, hasn't gone insane from all that she's seen.

She takes a deep breath and nestles further into the bed.

I lean across the bed and kiss her cheek and she murmurs something in her sleep. After a couple of seconds of listening to her speak gibberish, I realize that she is saying something. Her face contorts, and her breathing gets faster.

" _No… don't…_ " I finally make out what she's saying. _Don't hurt him._

"Tris?" I say, but she doesn't wake up.

She repeats what she said, and I see a tear go down her face, wetting the pillow.

I am watching her have a nightmare.

" _Tobias_ ," she says, but she is still asleep. She must be dreaming about _me_. She readjusts herself, her eyebrows scrunched together.

"Tris," I repeat. Again, no response. Perhaps it's because she finally let her emotions out, and her brain thinks that it's okay to let the fears flood her mind as well.

She gets rowdier. Her face contorts with fear and she keeps muttering. The muttering turns to normal speaking. The normal speaking turns to shouting.

I lie down with her, pulling her against me in my attempt at comfort. She buries her face against my neck, taking a breath, she calms down. I gently stroke her hair. "Don't worry, Tris," I say, "I'm here." Her quick breaths turn to easier ones, that come out more evenly.

I laid with her before I had the chance to turn off the light, but when I start to move to go turn it off, she tightens her arms around me. I sigh and leave the light on as I close my eyes and bring my face close to hers, so I feel her breaths mix with mine.

 **Tris POV.**

She is holding a gun to Tobias's head, counting down from five.

I know it is a dream, but I can't stop myself from pleading with the strange woman that I don't recognize to put her gun away, to stop it. _Stop it._

"Please, no, don't hurt him," I plead, tears falling down my face. With the knowledge that it is a dream, I should not be reacting this way, should not be so afraid to lose him while he isn't even the real Tobias. The real Tobias would fight back the moment he saw me like this, bawling my eyes out as I beg for her not to kill him. " _Tobias_."

A small moment, I am pushed back to reality, and I feel Tobias's body against mine, feel his comforting me. I take small breaths that slowly turn to deep ones. Tobias strokes the back of my head and I feel myself calming down.

"Don't worry, Tris, I'm here," he says, his voice muffled, and far away, since I am still half asleep, and though they are such small words, they are the only thing that reach me.

I feel him kiss my forehead as I slip back into sleep, and this time, I don't have the nightmare that had been haunting me in my sleep for so long.

That morning, I wake up with Tobias still next to me, only he is awake already, his arms around me as we lay in the blankets stained by the morning light.

I feel moisture on my cheeks and reach up to my face to wipe it away. I must have been crying in my sleep. It's not very rare, but I haven't cried since Tobias found out about a month ago.

 _A month ago._ God, has it already been that long?

I rub the tears off my cheek and Tobias turns to me.

"Morning," he says.

"Morning." I look at the alarm clock, that reads: 11:48. "Why didn't you wake me up sooner?" I say.

"You were sleeping, and there's not really a reason for you to be getting up early anymore."

I wipe another tear from my cheek and sniff.

He sits up and glances at me, a worried look. "You were talking in your sleep."

I pause. "About?"

"Me, I think. You were telling someone not to kill me." He looks at me for confirmation. "Who was it?"

"I don't know." I swing my legs over the side of the bed, so I don't have to look at him. "It's always different."

I feel his eyes on the back of my head. "How come I didn't know about this?"

I rub the back of my neck, trying to rub away his gaze. "It's not very serious. I've gotten used to it… mostly."

He shakes his head in disbelief. "Not very serious," he repeats. "Tris, it got to the point where you were almost screaming. I would hardly call that 'not very serious.'"

I rub my temple. "It go that bad, huh?"

"Why aren't you paying more attention to this?" he demands.

"I told you." I still don't look at him. Instead, I look up at the ceiling. "I've gotten used to it." I cup the back of my neck with my hand. "Besides. That's the only time that I've had it since I told you."

"Really?"

"Really." I finally look at him. I hadn't even noticed that he got out of bed until I see him standing only feet away.

"Tris," he says. He comes closer, so he stands in front of me, and I look down. "Even if you haven't had the dream for a while, you still should have told me about a reoccurring nightmare that you've had until you told someone you weren't dead."

"You're right, I should have, and I'm sorry I didn't."

He reaches his hand forward and puts it on my cheek, his thumb pressing underneath my chin. He tilts my head up so I have to look at him and puts his forehead against mine, his other hand on the bed behind me for balance and I have to lean my head back a little. He stays like that for a moment, our breaths mixing in the air. Mine sharp, his calm, and even.

"It's over now, Tris. You don't have to dwell on the things that have happened in the past." He kisses me slowly, and a sense of relief goes through me and I let out a breath as he pulls away.

"I haven't kissed you in a while," he says.

I let out a small laugh. "We've been pretty distracted with things, huh?"

He smiles and kisses me again, on my lips, my jaw, my neck. I sigh quietly into his ear. He pulls away.

"You don't need to hide things from me, you know," he says.

I nod. He runs his thumb along my cheekbone, staring into my eyes, and we stay there, for a long time.

* * *

 **Hey. Sorry this one was short, but it was taking a long time so I decided to just end the chapter there.**


	21. Chapter 21

**Tris POV.**

The nightmare is vivid. Terrifying.

Not the nightmare about Tobias's life being threatened, no. This one is new.

Watching all my friends and family die.

Al jumping down the Chasm and hitting the hard stone at the bottom. My mom falling to her knees as Dauntless soldiers shoot her down. Will's blank expression and foggy eyes as I aim a gun at his head. My dad firing back at the Dauntless as he is chased down the hallway, then slumped against the wall as he takes his final breath. Marlene as she steps off the side of the building in a simulation.

It goes through all of their deaths, until it stops at Uriah's.

He is standing by the wall at the Bureau of Genetic Welfare. He is noticing me as I walk by with Matthew. He is raising his hand to wave at me.

I am trying to warn him. I am trying to call his name, to tell him to get away; it is but a memory in my mind. Replaying as to show me the horrors of my past.

The wall explodes, taking Uriah's body with its blast.

I wake.

Tobias is gone, somewhere in the kitchen. I can hear him.

I sit up in the bed, wiping tears from my cheeks.

Why is this _happening_ to me? Why are they all coming back _now_? It was supposed to be over.

"Tris?" Tobias says from the other room. "You awake?"

"Yeah," I call back, trying my best to hide the tremble in my voice. I bury my face in my hands, glad that he can't see me and have to comfort me about my second nightmare in two nights.

I glance at the alarm clock and sigh. Almost 9:30. When Tobias wasn't with me, I used to wake up much, much earlier than this. 5:00 or 6:00, at most. But after Tobias came to stay with me, I have been waking up much later. And so has he. He used to be waking up even _earlier_ than me, but now he's been waking up around the same time.

I manage to calm myself down; compose myself, wipe the tears from my face, then I go to where Tobias is after I am convinced he won't notice anything wrong.

"Hey," he says. He is sitting on the couch reading. I don't recognize the book he is reading, which is strange because I have read every book I own at least a dozen times.

"Hi," I say. I sit next to him. I should probably tell him I had another nightmare, but I don't feel like making him worry right now. At least, more than he already is. He knows that I've had it hard the last two years, and I know he is extra protective over me now. Much more than he was before, which is saying a lot.

"How'd you sleep?" he asks.

I shrug. "Well… alright, I guess."

He looks up from his book for just a second, raising his eyebrow at me, but he doesn't say anything. He just scoots over and puts an arm around me.

But before I can relax, it happens. Gunshots. The window shatters and I am immediately on my feet, pulling Tobias to the kitchen where there are no windows—where I keep a spare gun in case anything like this happens.

"I have something to tell you," I say to Tobias as I hand him a gun. I look him straight in the eye. "Don't get shot, please."

"Tris, what the hell is going on?"

"Long story short," I say, sliding the bullet into the chamber of my gun. The movements are so wrong yet so natural. I haven't used a gun in so long yet it seems so short. "They didn't just tell me not to let people know about a certain thing." This is probably the moment that most people that have been through the same things me and Tobias have been through would start freaking out, but for some reason I am calm. Tobias seems calm, too.

We have done this kind of thing before.

"They're probably outside," I say. "Waiting for us to try and come out. From what I've learned of the little things about them, they are _definitely_ a 'them'. There's no way only one person can do something like this."

"Hold on, what do you mean by they didn't just tell you to not let people know?"

I peak my head around the corner at the living room that is now riddled with bullet holes in the walls and furniture. It's strange. I have only been living here for two years, but this is the first kind of thing that Tobias and I have actually shared a living space together.

"They threatened to kill me. Looks like they're finally coming up on that."

" _Kill_ you?"

"Look, now's not the time. We need to get out of here."

He comes up next to me, gun in hand. "Alright, but this conversation isn't over."

We need to get through the living room to get out the door, the only problem: there are people shooting through the windows at us and are probably waiting for us to try and leave.

Tobias look of worry has been replaced by determination. The gun I am holding feels heavy in my hand. Heavier than in should be. I guess I shouldn't be surprised about that part. Shooting all those people back then definitely made me know what real fear is.

The sound of shots being fired is just something I've gotten used to.

"Tobias," I say. "Please don't get shot." I know I've already said it, but I feel like I need to make a point. The thought of losing Tobias terrifies me more than dying myself.

"I won't, Tris," he says. "And let's make sure you won't either while we're at it." He is so comfortable holding the gun in his hand, but the way he glared at it before makes me think he's just trying to make it look like he is. He brushes my hair back away from my forehead and kisses it, then, holding his gun away from his body, says, "Let's go and try not to get killed."

* * *

 **Hey dudes. I am SUPER sorry that this chapter was short, and late, and pretty bad, but I was taking a break from writing for a while, because it's been pretty stress-inducing and I've been writing my own original story with my own characters and along with that two fanfics, it's pretty hard. Again, I am so extremely sorry, and I hope it won't happen again. I've also been losing some inspiration along with it, not knowing what to do next, so if you have anything, even the smallest, lamest plot idea, don't hesitate to send me your ideas. But thank you for staying and reading my stuff I really appreciate the support.**


	22. Chapter 22

**Tris POV.**

Tobias goes in front of me, leading us out of the apartment and into the empty hallway. Whoever they are, they must have waited for everyone that occupies the building to leave before springing to action. Hopefully, they don't know of the back entrance. But, then again, they were the people that put me here, so who am I to know.

"Tris," Tobias says. I realize that I am lagging behind. I don't want to admit it, but I am scared. Scared that I will have to leave Tobias again, my friends. Even Caleb. As much as I hate him for turning me over to the Erudite, I can't help but not hate him at the same time. He's my brother, after all. My only remaining family member besides Tobias.

I speed up so that I am going the same pace as Tobias. That is why I have to be determined to not die this time. Don't let myself do that to them ever again. Christina, Zeke, Tobias, and Caleb are the only people I have left. Everyone else that is still alive moved away. Even I have no idea where Matthew is, or Cara, which must mean that they have left as well.

We reach the ground floor and go straight to the back entrance. I open the door just the smallest amount and peak through, only to see a large amount of people outside, pointing guns in our direction.

"Step out slowly, put your hands in the air!" someone outside barks.

I exchange a glance with Tobias. There's no use trying to evade them. They have us surrounded completely.

Tobias nods, seeming to understand.

I take a deep breath and open the door the rest of the way. Tobias and I step out. They level their guns with us.

"Beatrice Prior, I am afraid that you have disobeyed our orders. Surrender now or face the consequences!" a man, standing in the middle of them a couple of steps in front of the rest, shouts.

"Who are you?" I yell back.

"That is none of your concern!"

"Like hell it isn't! I want to know who it is that's pointing a gun at me!"

"Tris," Tobias says to me, not taking his eyes off anyone. "Maybe not the best idea to yell at them."

I grit my teeth. He's right.

"I notice that you are not surrendering," the man says. He gestures with his hand and all of them click their guns.

I know he is about to give them the signal to shoot at us, but then, right when he is about to let his hand fall, I hear someone from somewhere in the back yell: "Wait! Wait! Hold your fire!"

The group shifts as the person makes their way up to the front.

I gasp.

Tobias goes rigid.

"Stop! This wasn't what we agreed to!" Uriah yells, turning to face the crowd.

 _Uriah_.

* * *

 **I'M BACK BITCHES!**


	23. Chapter 23

**Tris POV.**

"You said that you would help me find her, not kill her!" Uriah says.

"If she does not cooperate, she is to be executed," says the man. "She disobeyed."

"Okay, sure, she disobeyed. But that was only because she wanted to tell people that, oh, I don't know, she didn't _die_! You guys are the ones that brought her back in the first place, do you really think you went through all that trouble just to kill her again?!"

"This is none of your concern," the man says calmly. "You are interfering. Step out of the way or you will be removed from the premises."

"No! I know that you'll just kill them anyway, regardless! I'm not stupid!" He takes a couple of steps closer to me and Tobias and opens his arms, still facing the crowd. "Don't you even touch them. I can't... I can't lose anyone else."

The man glares at Uriah for so long it seems an eternity before he raises his hand in a fist. "Stand down," he says to the people holding guns, his eyes still on Uriah. "This isn't over." Him and his troops march off.

Uriah stands there in front of us until they are out of sight, then he turns to us. His eyes go immediately to me, then Tobias.

"Four," he says almost breathily. Maybe it's from him running up here. "I can explain."

" _Uriah_?" Tobias says. "What the _hell_?"

Uriah looks at me, seeming to ignore Tobias. "Tris," he says with relief. "Oh God, it's so good to see you."

I place my gun in the holster, turning the safety on. "I could possibly say the same. How are you _alive_?"

He looks at me, confused or disappointed, I can't tell. "I can say the same with you. You don't seem very surprised about all this."

"I don't get surprised by very many things anymore."

"Huh. Well, I guess that makes sense." He looks at me, a glint of relief in his eyes. "I really want to hug you, but I'm afraid that you're gonna punch me."

"Likewise." I march forward and stubbornly wrap my arms around him before he can let out another word.

He stumbles back, surprised for a second, then accepts the embrace, sighing. Then he pulls away and holds me at arms length. "I guess I have some explaining to do, huh?"

"Yeah, obviously. What the hell is going on?" Tobias says, looking around, paranoid. For good reason. We were just faced by some random people with guns, of course we're all paranoid.

* * *

We stand in a back alley, where no one is around. No one was around where we were before, either. It seems that those people-whoever they were-had managed to clear the streets before they came after Tobias and I. Their intentions were to kill me, and possibly Tobias as well. And that makes me angry. If they even bothered to go through the trouble of bringing _me_ back to life, why would they kill _me_ again? It doesn't make any sense. Why did they even decide to bring me back? Is there some sort of reasoning behind it, or did they just bring me back for the hell of it? So many questions, so little answers.

I cross my arms at Uriah. "Well?"

He hesitates. "Is it just me, or have you two gotten even more intimidating than you were before?"

Tobias stays silent.

"Alright, alright," Uriah says when neither of us say anything. "You want to know how you were kept alive, right?" He sighs. "When you were in the state of death, they took your body from the morgue and replaced it with a fake. They took you to their laboratory, where you were kept in suspended animation. While you were in their suspension tank, they healed your wounds and gave you life. Now, I'm not completely sure of the details, but I know that one of the reasons they did this was to document. You were like... the experiment."

I lean against the dirty wall and touch my hand to my forehead.

"I was one of the first, and they decided to keep me with them before they made the decision to give you a 'normal life' when you were finished. All they needed to do was wake you up and set you up in a suitable environment," he continued. "They wanted to see how life would be like for someone like you, who went through all you did, to try and adapt to life again. I don't know why they decided to put you somewhere that you have to see Four every day. I guess that it meant that if you went to him, it wasn't possible for you to leave your life behind and they would have to terminate the experiment. Which meant, terminating you."

"Why did they stand down, then?" I ask.

"I have no idea. But there's no guarantee that they'll stay down, now that they know that I know about you."

"Does that mean you didn't before?"

"Yeah..." he scratches the back of his head. "I learned a long time ago, actually. I overheard a conversation about a new experiment file and curiosity got the best of me, so I went to the filing room and looked through as much as I could, until I spotted your name, and... well, here we are."

"Was anyone else used in this?"

"I don't think so, no."

"So... why just me and you?"

"Again, I don't know. Jeez, Tris, do you expect me to know everything about this?"

"Kind of, yeah!"

"Okay, okay. Sorry. But I have the feeling that you and Four need to figure out some sort of different living situation, because they're _definitely_ going to find you guys if you stay here."

"What about you?" Tobias says. "Does Zeke know about you?"

Uriah's face changes to very serious in a matter of seconds. "No. No, he doesn't. I'm not sure if I even want him to."

"Why not?"

"He wouldn't take it as well as you, Four. He would be angry. I know my brother. Besides, he's already gotten over it, right?"

"Well... Not so much," I say, crossing my arms. "He still cries about you. A lot, actually. But I understand if you don't want to tell him."

"What? How do you know this?"

I raise an eyebrow. "Are you kidding me? I had to spend all this time hiding from the people I wanted to tell the most. Do you really think I wouldn't do something to figure out what the others are doing? It was easy. I just... happened to come across his schedule and just... happened to be in the same place as him at the same time."

Uriah's eyes widen and he looks from me to Tobias multiple times. "I-you know what, I'm not even gonna ask."

"So, where are we going to go?" I say. "We definitely can't stay here."

"We should see if Christina can take us in," Uriah says. He fiddles with his fingers. "She knows about me, too."

Of course she does. But why doesn't Zeke?

"Okay," I say. "Does she know that there are a bunch of psychotic maniacs coming after us?"

"...Maybe?"

I roll my eyes. "Alright. Let's go, then."

* * *

 **Hey guys. So I know that it's been a while, and I'm sorry. I thought that I had gotten back inspiration, but I guess that wasn't true. This has become one of my side projects, I don't really care about it anymore and I've been more focused on my own original stories and such. That, and that I've sort of moved on from the Divergent series.** **This might be the last chapter that I post unless someone can give me some sort of idea for the story that might make me keep on posting. And I don't need just tiny ideas like "Maybe you can do more on the people that saved Tris?" and stuff like that. I need details. Specifics. Sorry if I'm being picky, I just don't think I can keep writing this. Thank you for reading.**


	24. Chapter 24

**Tris POV**.

" _WHAATT?!_ " Christina yells on the other line, nearly breaking the speaker. I hold the phone away from my face as she lets off a bunch of swears and screams.

When she pauses, I bring it back. "Calm down, Christina," I say.

" _How the hell am I supposed to 'Calm down'?!_ "

Uriah snatches the phone from me and holds it up to his own ear. "Look, Christina, I know it's a lot, but do you think you can take us in for a bit while we figure things out?"

I can almost hear her massaging her forehead as she contemplates. Uriah switches it to speakerphone before she replies, " _I-I don't know. It seems like a lot._ "

"I get that," Uriah says. "But-"

" _Fine_ ," Christina snaps, cutting him off. Her tone is stubborn and mildly hateful. " _Just... don't make me regret this._ " She hangs up.

Uriah hands the phone back to me. "I think it would be best if we leave right away. It's not very safe..." he gestures at the entire apartment. "Here. They know where this place is, and it's only a matter of time for them to come search the place."

"I agree," Tobias says from his spot leaning against the wall. He momentarily glares at Uriah but turns his gaze to me. "They're bound to come back here soon, with guns, too. We can figure out a plan on the way. We should get moving."

I nod. "Hopefully Christina won't be _too_ begrudging."

"C'mon, it's Christina," Uriah says, elbowing me in the ribs. "She's basically the definition of begrudging."

I punch him in the arm, placing a hand against my rib. "Very helpful. Thanks for the insight."

"My pleasure."

Tobias turns his head the other direction, that negative persona that he used to display a lot returns as he crosses his arms.

"...We should get going," I say, the momentary smile I had on my face gone now.

* * *

We walk along an empty back alleyway with no sign of human life around.

It's strange, how things work around here. So much different from what it was when I lived with the Dauntless or Abnegation. The societal norms of this place, despite it being the same place I lived in before, have changed so drastically that it's barely recognizable.

The same, yet completely different.

"Is there somewhere we could hide if they find us somehow?" Uriah says.

"I don't know, she knew about you first. How about you tell us that?" Tobias retorts.

They start arguing, loudly. It's annoying.

"She has an attic," I butt in. "And a basement."

They both look at me weird, like I just said I eat my toes.

"What?" I say. "You know what I've been doing."

"Huh?" Uriah says. "What are you talking about?"

I roll my eyes. I've had to explain this too many times lately. "I've been watching the people I know move on without me for two years. I wouldn't be able to ignore learning everything about them that I can even if I wanted to."

He looks like he wants to say something, but that something isn't there.

The rest of the walk/jog is awkward silence and the only spoken words are talking about what we are going to do if we get chased after.

We get to Christina's house, me leading the way because of how I know every detour to and from where everyone I know lives.

Christina opens the door before we even get all the way up the driveway.

"You're late," she says. She steps aside to let us in immediately and closes the door behind us.

"We never specified when we were coming," Uriah says.

"That doesn't mean that you aren't late." She crosses her arms. "I need to talk to Tris. Alone. You guys can go over to the other room."

"What? Why?" Tobias says.

"Just fucking do it! You're in my house. You do what I say. I say, that I need to talk to Tris, and you need to go over there." She points stubbornly to an opened door on the other side of the living room where I can see a bed through the door along with some extra blankets on the ground.

"Alright, alright! Ya pansycake," Uriah says, muttering the last few words. He starts walking over to the room. "C'mon, Four."

Tobias looks at me for confirmation.

"It's fine," I say. "I'll be with you in a second."

Hesitant, he asks, "Are you sure?" I can tell he's worried. Probably about how the last time Christina and I were alone together she pulled a gun on me.

"Yes, I'm sure." I catch eyes with Christina. "I trust she won't do anything."

Looking back and forth between Christina and I, Tobias sighs and says, "Alright. I'll give you five minutes. After that, we need to come up with a real plan. I don't want to be wasting any more time, alright?"

"Right."

"Okay." He turns and follows after Uriah, shutting the door to the other room behind him.

I look back at Christina.

There's a moment where she just stands there, staring at me. She looks hateful. Like she wants to punch me. Then her expression softens and she reaches forward and pulls me into an embrace.

I stiffen. "I-uh..." I say. "Christina?"

"Oh, right, sorry." She lets go of me and runs a nervous hand through her hair. "Look, I-I'm sorry, Tris. About the way I reacted to you being... you know, not dead. It's just that, I had just gotten over it, and I was just starting to feel like I could go a nigh without thinking about you, and I-"

"Christina," I say, cutting her off. She was starting to ramble. My voice takes a gentle tone that I didn't even know I could make any more. "The way you acted was completely rational. I don't blame you for anything. If it were me, I would have done the same thing."

"I know, but still." A tear falls down her face as she looks to the ground. "You... you didn't need to tell me about it, but you trusted me enough to do so anyway. Why do you trust me, Tris? Why?"

"Why wouldn't I trust my best friend?"

She starts crying even more and sits herself down on the couch. "Oh, god," she says. "I promised myself I would get through this conversation without crying."

"Crying is completely normal, you know," I say.

"Yeah, yeah I know." She looks up at me. "Okay. Do I look like I've been crying?" she wipes under her eyes and blinks a couple of times, giving herself a normal resting face instead of a sad resting face.

"No," I say. And it's true. For someone from Candor, she knows how to hide things pretty well. "You... Actually don't look like you've been crying at _all_."

She grins at me. "Wjy, of course I don't. I'm just that awesome, aren't I."

I smile. She's acting like she used to, the normal Christina that I haven't seen for a long time.

"C'mon," she says. She stands. "Four-or... Tobias...?"

"He doesn't care."

"Oh, okay. Four then. Four said that he doesn't want us wasting time, so we probably shouldn't be wasting time now. Come on, let's go talk strategy." We make our way to the other side of the room and she places a hand on the door handle, pausing for a second to say, "Oh, and, fill me In on the details, while you're at it. "

* * *

 **F**

 **I'm back again finally. I'm still trying, guys. Still trying. To that one person that was asking if they could take over the story on wattpad, I'm sorry but no. I'm doing my very best to get this done and it would really make me feel like I failed if I just passed on the story to someone else.**

 **Thanks for sticking with me to the people that have been patient this whole time. It really means a lot to me.**


	25. Chapter 25

**Tris POV**

Debriefing Christina was a little difficult, but we manage to get it done in as short amount of time as possible. Which is around an hour or so because she keeps bringing up things we've already explained.

"Wait, wait, wait... so they brought you back to life for _no_ reason? Seriously no reason at all except to tease you with going to live oppositely to your boyfriend that had no idea you were alive and tell you that you couldn't tell anyone?" says Christina.

"Yes, that's already been established," I say. We've had to tell her that detail about fifteen times already.

"I know it's 'already been established'. I'm just trying to put things together. Unlike what you guys have been doing."

I notice Tobias looking at Uriah somewhat begrudgingly from the corner of his eye as he listens silently to the conversation.

"You guys have been looking at this all wrong. It's not _why_ they brought you back to life, it's _how,_ " Christina says. She leans back into the chair she's been sitting in. "You guys never questioned what sort of technology they've been using to bring people back. You guys were just the successful prototypes for a more intricate plan. Do you ever wonder what they were doing, just bringing you guys back willy nilly? No. You were one of the last people that died, Tris, and Uriah was pretty fresh too. They just wanted the recently deceased and you were coincidentally the freshest."

Silence for a moment while all of this is contemplates.

"Wow, that's... actually a pretty good theory," Uriah says.

"What, did you expect me to be an idiot or something?"

"Sort of, yeah."

She rolls her eyes. "The point is, there's a lot more to this than meets the eye. There might also be the fact that both of you are Divergent, and _everyone's_ obsessed with the way your brain works. But who knows? Just a hunch."

Christina stands up. "You guys look like you haven't had a good meal in _days_. I'll make you something while you... plot out a battle strategy or whatever." She walks out of the room and a couple of seconds later I hear noises from the kitchen.

"Welp," Uriah says. "Got a plan?"

* * *

 **Yo. This is short, I know, but I need to keep writing this and stuff so I don't just give up again. Thanks for your time!**


	26. Chapter 26

**Tris POV.**

You would think that, as someone who used to be Dauntless, Christina would at least have _one_ gun somewhere, but no. All she has as a weapon is a stupid tiny blowtorch that she uses to cook things with.

The gun that she had when I told her about me being alive was a rental. She says that she wouldn't go to someplace to meet with someone she didn't know without being at least armed. But if she was willing to rent a gun, one would expect her to own one.

"Seriously? You ar-used to be Dauntless for God's sake!" Uriah says, voicing my exact thoughts. The way he confuses "are" and "used to be" especially.

"Really, Uri? I don't even want to _hold_ a gun again after what happened, let along own one," Christina says.

Classic. Sitting over dinner and having an argument.

"Yet you somehow found it completely fine to point one at Tris's head," Tobias says.

"I told you I was sorry."

"You did what now?" Uriah says.

"Oh, you didn't hear?" says Tobias "Turns out, the first reaction to seeing your alleged 'best friend' alive is to pull out a gun and point it at her and threaten to kill her all over again."

"Four, I told you I'm sorry!"

Tobias looks down at his food and mumbles, "Tobias is fine."

Christina scoffs and stands from her place at the table, slamming her hand down causing everything on the table to shake. "Look. The only person that's making it a big deal about this is you. There's nothing else for me to say other than sorry. It's not like I can go back in time and stop myself from doing it, okay? If I could go back in time I would stop all this messed up shit from happening!"

She takes a deep breath to try and calm herself. "You guys can stay as long as you need. There's room on the couch for one of you, and the bed can fit the other two," she says, drastically changing the subject. "Now, goodnight." She takes her plate from the table and walks into the kitchen, then a few seconds later I hear her walking up the stairs.

What a _pleasant_ conversation.

* * *

Uriah slacks on the couch as Tobias and I search around for hidden cameras.

I've been noticing that Tobias has some sort of a grudge on Uriah. He's been glaring at him while Uriah hasn't been looking.

I pull a shelf away from the wall to inspect the wall behind it. Nothing. I shove it back.

"I don't think they bugged this place," I say.

"Better to be sure," Tobias says as he checks under the coffee table.

I lift the carpet up and check underneath. "We could use some help with this, Uriah," I say.

"Meh." He yawns and stretches himself out on the couch. "I'd rather sleep somewhere that isn't a wooden cot for the time being."

Tobias scoffs.

"You slept on a wooden cot?" I ask, ignoring him.

"Yeah," he says flippantly. "My back has been hurting for the last two years. But whatever; not nearly as bad as what you've had to live through."

Tobias and I search through the rest of the apartment, only me going into Christina's room because anyone else and she would freak out, and establish that there's no cameras, mics, nothing. They didn't even think I would want to go here. Did they even look into how close my friendship with people other than Tobias is?

We go to bed later that night without really saying a word. Uriah's already asleep on the couch, and Tobias and I just take the bed in the other room.

* * *

 **So... have you guys been noticing any improvement in my writing style? If so, can you please review on it and tell me if I've gotten better or worse? It would be a big help to know. In the long gap of me not updating I've been doing a lot of writing courses and things like that to help me improve with grammar and different styles of writing.**

 **Thanks for reading! I'm really, really sorry about the gap and I hope to be able to be working on this a lot more. But don't be alarmed if there's another type of gap, because that will probably just be me taking a break from this to work on my original stories.**


	27. Chapter 27

**Tris POV.**

In the middle of the night, I wake up in a cold sweat, shivering. I sit up, trying to control my breathing. Another night, another dream.

I look down at Tobias as he sleeps, unaware.

Maybe I should tell him about it.

Maybe not.

I swing my legs over the side of the bed. I won't be able to go back to sleep after _that_. It seemed so _real..._

No, I shouldn't tell him. He wouldn't understand what this is, this feeling.

I wipe sweat from the back of my neck and rock back and forth, trying to control my breathing and calm myself down. It's too overwhelming. I try to be as quiet as I can, so I don't wake Tobias up.

I wrap my arms around myself, clutching tightly. Tears run down my face and I immediately wipe them away with my sleeve.

I can't cry now.

Slowly, I stand up and walk out of the room, not sure what I plan to do.

I go around the corner into the kitchen and decide to get a glass of water. As I take a glass out of the cabinet and go over to the sink, still breathing fast but not as fast as before, I hear, "Nightmares, huh?" and I jump and turn. Uriah stands, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

"...How did you know?" I hear a slight tremble in my voice that I wish wasn't there.

He runs a hand through his hair nervously. "High-tech machines. Strapped down to a metal table. Something messing with your brain, the feeling of complete breach of privacy."

"You have them too?" I say.

He nods and looks to the ground. "That machine that you see, that's what they used to bring you back. It's not like you weren't dead before, you were one-hundred percent dead when they brought you back. It was complete revitalization." He glances at me from the corner of his eye and looks back at the ground. "You and I are the lucky ones, to come back completely the same as we were before. Others, not so lucky."

I set the glass I'm holding back down on the counter.

"I looked at their files, Tris. Most of their 'experiments' are never the same. They turn out insane, braindead, they can't even feel pain." He clenches his fist. "Why would they do this? When someone's dead, they're dead for good. They're not supposed to come back. Ever." He looks up at me. "I'm not supposed to be _here-you're_ not supposed to be here. It may seem like a miracle, but bringing us back just made everyone's life worse. Four was going to get over his grieving, so was Christina, they were going to be okay. They just made it worse by bringing us back into their lives. What to they even hope to accomplish with this?!"

He takes a deep breath. "Sorry. I'm ranting. It's just that... maybe I didn't _want_ to come back." He pushes himself of the wall, his fists still clenched until his knuckles turn white. "Goodnight, Tris. The nightmares usually don't come back the second time around. But sometimes they do." He turns and goes back into the living room.

I need to ask him about what he saw... tomorrow. He doesn't need me prying right now.

I fill the glass I was going to drink out of and chug it down my throat. One thing I know: I am not going to fall back asleep after hearing that.

* * *

 **So, guess my writing _is_ better, huh? Because I'm reasonably proud of this chapter for some reason. Maybe it's the way Uriah acts or something but jfghfjgh I am so happy with how this chapter turned out!**

 **Be sure to review, please! It would be a big help to know what you guys think of it!**


	28. Chapter 28

**Real quick A/N**

 **I don't know if you guys even like musical theater, but the Original Broadway Cast Album of Be More Chill just dropped the other day and I implore you to go listen to it. Why, you ask? Because it's fantastic and amazing and I somehow got six, that's right, SIX OF THE CAST MEMBERS to notice me on twitter.**

 **Including the guy that wrote literally all of the music in the show.**

 **Is it obvious I'm fangirling right now?**

 **Anyway, please go give it a listen. It's probably anywhere you can find, even on youtube, though I don't think it's been compiled into a playlist yet so it would be a hassle to find. You don't have to go listen to it, but I feel like I needed to say something because I was downloading it and listening to it the moment it dropped and I feel like I was witnessing history.**

 **Anyway, enjoy this short chapter after my long rant (probably longer than the chapter) about something completely unrelated :)**

* * *

 **Tris POV.**

I wake up shaking.

Uriah was wrong. The nightmare came back.

I slowly pull myself away from Tobias's grasp, resting my back against the wall behind the bed, my chest rising and falling with every quick breath that comes out. I doubt anyone else is awake right now. It's four in the morning; the sun isn't even up yet.

Tobias lay on his side, his arm supporting his head from under the pillow. I sigh as I watch him sleep. Just being with him right now, despite him being oblivious, makes me feel a little better. You would think I would get used to having this same nightmare every night, but it's the same amount terrifying as it was the first time I had it.

Maybe Uriah was right about how bringing us back is just ruining things... Tobias was getting better, and I bet that he would have been fine in about a year, maybe even a couple of months. He would be able to create a new life where thoughts of me wouldn't weigh him down like it did.

I run a hand through his hair, gently, as to not wake him up. Despite what Uriah said, and what I might believe, Tobias is a lot happier than he was before. And now, he can fulfill what he wanted to do all along; live a life that I'm a part of.

Because I know that's what he wanted since the beginning.

I turn and get out of bed. No one's awake right now, I know because I don't hear anything outside the door. And my friends are loud. Especially Uriah and Christina.

I walk up to the door and place a hand on the handle. Just as I'm about to open it, I hesitate and look back at Tobias. Maybe I should just... sit still for once. I don't need to be moving around constantly. I tighten my grip on the handle. Why does this seem like such a big decision? I'm just contemplating whether or not to lay down.

Finally, I come to a decision after a couple of seconds of just standing there with my hand on the doorknob. I turn around. I won't sleep, but maybe it's better to just stay in bed until everyone else is awake as well. Or at least until Tobias is.

I sit on the edge of the bed, deciding not to lay down again with the possibility of the dream coming back.

It's a better idea to just sit around until everyone's awake.

As I lower myself down, Tobias stirs, and I become very aware of the fact that I am still shaking, breathing fast, and very rigid from the nightmares.

I stare down at my lap, clutching the mattress with both hands at my sides.

A minute more of rustling behind me until I hear Tobias say, "Tris?"

I don't look at him and take a deep breath. I should have gone out the door.

"Yeah?" I say, trying my best to hide the tremble in my voice.

"Are you okay?"

I wipe a bead of sweat off my brow. "Yeah, fine," I say. "I just... had a weird dream."

More shuffling and he gets out of bed, coming around so he can sit down with me. He looks at me, worry plastered all over his face. "I've noticed you've been having a lot of those... what are they about?"

I flinch. The way he asked it, he seems legitimately concerned. He really wants to know, and judging by the look he's giving me, he's wanted to know for a while. "I-well..." I take another deep breath and explain to him what my dreams have been. Not mentioning the conversation I had with Uriah; that seemed very personal to him and I think that he wouldn't like it if I told Tobias.

I explain everything about my dream to him.

* * *

 **(Please review)**


	29. Chapter 29

**Me: _Plays trivia crack about Divergent on my phone while sitting in front of my computer, writing Divergent fanfiction._**

 **Folks, I am officially re-obsessed** **.**

* * *

 **Tobias POV.**

I have to say. Tris's dreams are a lot worse than she usually makes them out to be. I always wake up in the morning, and she seems fazed, but not so much so that I would think it was anything more than a normal nightmare. I've had them before, about the war, but they weren't as consistent and reoccurring.

Tris has been having them for a long time, and I've noticed that. I had initially wanted to wait until she came to me about this on her own, but I couldn't help taking the opportunity to ask when I saw it.

She seems like she's feeling a lot better now.

I wonder how long she's been thinking about how I didn't know about it.

Tris composes herself quickly when we hear someone coming down the stairs, most likely Christina coming out to wake us up.

How good Tris is with acting like she's fine worries me. And how quickly she can switch between letting her feelings out one second to being fine the next is even more worrying.

I know that she's just acting, but she's damn good at it.

She wipes a tear from her face, and once it's gone, it's like it was never there in the first place. No signs that she was just crying.

Tris and I go out into the living room, where Uriah sits cross-legged on the couch, fiddling with some sort of device with a screwdriver.

"What's that?" Tris asks him.

"Booby trap. Just in case, you know?"

"What kind of explosives do you have in that?" Christina says from the other room. "You better not be keeping an active bomb in my house!"

Uriah rolled his eyes. "It's not an active bomb! And it definitely won't explode. Disperse a bunch of gross, smelly gas, however..."

"Ugh!"

Tris snorts and puts a hand over her mouth.

"Hey, Tris, I could use some help with this," Uriah says, gesturing for her to come sit down with him.

"Of course you do."

"Shut it."

She moves from my side over to him and sits down. He asks her to hold her finger against something on is little device while he messes with it.

"How do you know how to make a stink bomb?" I ask.

Uriah, not looking up from what he's doing, simply says, "I'm Dauntless." Then his hand falters a little. "Or, _was_ Dauntless, that is." He stares at the ground for a moment, then snaps out of it and continues working as he speaks. "Zeke initially taught me how to make a normal smoke bomb, but I figured out ways to make it a stink bomb that also disperses smoke. All I really need is a couple of ingredients that smell really bad. Lucky for me, we're in Christina's house."

"I heard that!" Christina calls from the other room. She sounds annoyed.

"Yeah, yeah!" Uriah says back. "Anyway," he turns back to the device. He takes Tris's wrist and moves her hand away. "Zeke taught me how to make a smoke bomb, I turned it into a stink bomb, mastered it after playing a bunch of pranks on people when I was younger, yada yada."

He sticks the screwdriver into a spot on the bomb and yanks it down. A loud click goes off and Uriah sighs. "We're all set. Now all we need to do is put it somewhere and set a trigger."

"Is this actually going to be helpful at all?" Christina says as she comes out of the kitchen and leans against the doorframe.

"Pfft! Of course it will! Well, I mean, it'll distract them for a couple of seconds, I guess. I mean, it smells _really_ bad. See, Tris?"

He holds it up right underneath her nose and her expression turns to disgust. She gags as she lifts her shirt up to her nose. "What the hell did you _put_ in that?!" she says, shoving Uriah's arm away.

He laughs, loudly. "I'm not telling."

She flips him the finger.

"Hey, hey, I'm not letting a fight happen in my house," Christina announces.

"Says you," Uriah remarks with a grin on his face, placing his stink bomb on the floor. "Mrs. 'I Want to Pick a Fight all the Time.'" He uses his fingers to make quotation marks.

She gives him a death glare. "I pick my own fights in my own house."

"Oh no, I don't doubt that. Maybe you should just tone it down with that... that Fighting Spirit!" He makes weird fist motions in the air.

"Maybe you should tone it down with being annoying."

"Oh! Guilty as charged."

I catch eyes with Tris and we both share a sly smile. It's nice to be around a somewhat positive environment for once. In a place that's not a small, bugged apartment.

"Ugh, you guys are so cheezy," Christina says, looking from Tris to me.

"Awwww! But can't you see they're in _looovvvee_?" Uriah dramatically puts his hand over his heart and fake swoons.

Tris elbows him hard. "Mind you, we were silently laughing. At you."

* * *

The rest of the day goes on like that, sitting around, bickering, until we feel the need to go to bed around one in the morning.

We'll be setting more traps tomorrow; I made Uriah agree to make these ones a bit more dangerous.


	30. Chapter 30

**Henlo people! I'm adding an original character into the mix! PM me suggestions of their name, gender, race, personality, and whichever one I think is the best I'll use!**

 **(This totally isn't me being lazy about coming up with a new character)**

 **Whoever you guys come up with will be another one of the testing subjects that they brought back to life. It can't be anyone else from Divergent.**

 **You can do whatever you want with the personality. Want them to be a little mentally unstable? Go ahead! Enemy? Sure! Ally? Of course!**

 **Be sure to send in as soon as you can! The faster I can get it, the faster I'll be able to write the next chapter!**

 **(P.S. I might even make multiple if I can't decide on only one ;))**

* * *

 **Tobias POV.**

"Are you sure this isn't going to be blowing up in your face, Uriah?" Tris says. She's helping him build another one of his devices again, while Christina and I know better than to be too close to Uriah when he's holding an active explosive.

"Psh, I got this. Besides, if it blows up, it'll be in _both_ of our faces! Which means that it'll be _both_ of our faults."

"This is serious, Uriah," Christina says from the other side of the room, making herself as far away as possible. "That's an actual bomb, and you'll die... _again_... if it goes off."

"Oh, well then how ironic that it's another explosive," he says casually, dropping the screwdriver and snapping his fingers for Tris to hand him a different tool.

I wince. My fault.

Tris glances up at me and I try to play it off with movement, crossing my arms and leaning against the wall. Judging by the look she gives me, she knows what it really was.

Uriah fiddles with it a bit more, then he holds it up into the air with a sigh of relief and says, "Ah hah! 'Tis complete! All we need to do is press this button and it'll activate, and I have the switch right here." He holds up a remote-looking thing with pride in his other hand.

"So then," Christina says. "Where do you guys want to put it?"

"Um... I don't know, somewhere near the door, maybe?" he says, placing it down on the coffee table. Christina and I don't get closer anyway.

It's strange, how comfortable Uriah is holding an explosive after what happened to him. I would expect him to barely be able to even hold one, like Tris is with a gun, like Christina is with a gun, like _I_ am with a gun.

It's a weird feeling of uneasiness when I hold one. It makes me afraid. I internalize it, however, so no one questions how I feel about it. When Tris handed me that gun yesterday... her hands were shaking like mad. My hands wanted to so badly.

But I managed not to.

Somehow.

"Maybe we should put it in the garden out front," Christina says.

"No, that's too close to the road."

"So next to the door then."

"Sounds about right."

"Let's get to it, then." Uriah stands and swoops up the bomb, going over to the door and starts to place it somewhere that no one can see, when there is a knock on the door.

* * *

 **Send in original characters that you think will work well for the plot and we'll go from there!**


	31. Chapter 31

**Tris POV.**

I nearly jump out of my skin from the loud knock. Immediately I stand straighter and put my hand behind my back, shaking as I take the handle of the gun that I placed in my belt earlier this morning.

Tobias comes up, squeezing past Uriah in the hall and gently touches my forearm. "It's okay," he says. He softly releases my grip on the gun and takes it himself.

Relief runs through my body as I thank him.

The pounding on the door gets louder. "H-hello! Is someone in there?! I need help!"

I look at Christina and she gestures for us to hide out of the hallway as she reaches out to open the door. I grit my teeth as I notice that she's completely unarmed. But there's nothing I can do about it now.

She opens the door and a kid, about how old I was when everything happened, bolts inside and presses himself against the wall behind the door. I jump back and accidentally run into Tobias, who is standing behind me, from the abruptness of it all. He's breathing fast, like he was just running, and there is a cut right above his left cheek, slowly dripping blood.

Christina immediately slams the door behind him and crosses her arms, staring daggers at him. "Who the hell are you, and why are you just inviting yourself into my home?"

He takes a moment to compose himself. "-Look, it's a little hard to explain, but I need to talk to someone, and I'm fairly certain that they're here. Beatrice? Beatrice Prior?"

I wince and Tobias's hand finds mine.

How does he know my name?

"You didn't answer my question," Christina says. She looks ready to pounce at any second, but seems a lot more patient at the moment than I've ever really seen her.

The boy takes a bunch of deep breaths to calm himself down. "I-my name is Douglas."

"Douglas...?"

"Orion."

"Douglas Orion, huh. What do you want with Tris?"

"I have information." He takes a backpack that I didn't even notice he was wearing off his shoulder and starts unzipping it it.

"Hold on," Christina says. He stops. "Keep in mind, that if you try to pull anything, I have people around who will _not_ hesitate to shoot you."

He gulps and nods. "Yeah, yeah. Got it. I, uh... well, phew, yeah, that's-that's totally reassuring." He finishes unzipping the bag and slowly pulls out what looks like a file.

Recognition immediately flashes behind my eyes and I whisper, "I recognize him."

"What?" Tobias says.

"I don't know... I just recognize him."

"He was a part of it," Uriah says. He starts to step forward, placing a hand against the door frame as he leans over to get a better look. "He's one of the experiments too. He helped me convince them to bring me to you." He looks at me, his brown eyes as serious as when he was talking about dreams a couple nights before. "He's safe."

* * *

 **Apologies for the short chapter yet again! Jeez! When will I learn not to leave you guys on cliffhangers!**


	32. Chapter 32

**A/N**

 **Thank you all for being patient with me. I am very grateful to all of you for all the support I've gotten.**

 **But I need to say it, because I've been putting it off for so long; I won't be publishing any more of this story. There is no hiatus, there is no "break for working on my writing skill." I will be ending it now.**

 **I'm doing the same for Training a New, the other Divergent fanfiction that I wrote.**

 **I am only uploading this author's note so I won't have people waiting and anticipating for the next chapter to be uploaded only to be let down over and over again.**

 **I'll leave the story up for anyone who might want to go back and reread it, but I won't be uploading any more of it.**

 **I've moved on from this fanfic and I'm sorry to everyone who's been sticking around for the ending.**

 **Thank you.**

 **-Shadowthorn**


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